The two-day Retreat was under the theme “Equipping ourselves to face the challenges ahead”.  The Commissioner said that the Retreat marked the commencement of a series of activities geared towards improving the quality of life in SVG by targeting criminality.

“The world is a dangerous place today, not because of the evil people living in it, but because of the people who do nothing about it,” Miller said. He mentioned that the local Police Force needed to move forward with a systematic approach, in its effort to fight crime.

A changing role
 
Cecil “Blazer” Williams, Chairman of the Public and Police Services Commissions, also addressed the Retreat.  He said the traditional role of policing has changed and that there were a number of things that had to be taken into consideration with regard to the role of the Police Force.

“It’s not only a matter of detection and prevention of crime nor maintaining peace and public order, but it goes beyond this,” Williams said.

He noted that there was an increase in serious offences being committed, and pointed out that the introduction  of a Serious Offences Court was indicative of this. He added that criminals had become more sophisticated.

Williams said the time had come for a new Police act to be put in place. He identified the areas of training and promotion of officers as areas that needed to be addressed. He said that there was the need for more qualified persons, both academically and psychologically within the Police Force, emphasizing that the Police Force needed to ensure that its recruits undergo rigorous training.

The Chairman of the Police Service Commission admitted that officers needed to better equip themselves to ensure that they were on the promotion list, and advanced the view that an individual evaluation system should be adopted in addressing the issue of promotion.

The causes of crime

Special guest speaker, His Excellency, the Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne highlighted drug trafficking, an increase in violent crime, the deportation of hardened criminals from abroad, crimes against tourists, the infusion of guns in society and the new threat of terrorism as some of the areas and nature of crimes with which the local Police Force is confronted.

He explained that the demise of the banana industry was one possible explanation for the increase in crime. According to Sir Frederick, the last five-year period was a period of decreased earnings by the banana industry. “The industry’s decline,” he explained, “can only result in a rise in unemployment. The end result is a rise in crime as an alternative means for income.

“Unless we offer our youths a better alternative to unemployment, we may never solve the problem,” Sir Frederick said.

The Governor General indicated that most of the crimes committed were due to the “manifestation of a fundamental lack of respect for human life.” This, he said, created a serious problem for the Police.

Sir Frederick, however, gave the Police Force credit for its job in maintaining public safety.  He said that although the nation’s main industry was in decline, violent crime statistics were lower than would be expected under the said circumstances.

Areas for attention

Even as he credited the Police Force for its success in maintaining public safety, the Governor General pointed to some areas which he said warranted attention. Among these was the conditions at the barracks which he deemed appalling.  He called for the government to pay special attention to this.

He also called for a more knowledgeable and sophisticated Police Force, reminding his audience that policing was a process of continuing education.
Police Officers, he declared, must become knowledgeable of the laws of the country, especially advising that it was important that police officers knew the rights of indiviuals in relation to the law. And on the note of individuals’ rights, he called for a stronger  bond between civilians and the Police Force.

Source: The Vincentian