Less than one month, following his appointment as Commissioner of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, Mr. Paul Morrison held his first press conference on Tuesday, November 3, during which he outlined his plans for effectively and efficiently policing the island.
Formerly Chief Superintendent with the Surrey and Sussex Police, in the United Kingdom, Mr. Morrison spoke about a policing plan he is preparing for Anguilla, and three upcoming community meetings. The first of these meetings will be held on Monday 23rd November, 2015 at the St. Augustine’s Church, Church Hall at East End. The second meeting will be held at the Adrian T Hazel Primary School, School Auditorium on the 26th November, 2015 and the third will be held at the Orealia Kelly Primary School, School Auditorium on the 27th November, 2015. All the meetings are scheduled to begin at 6:00pm.
Mr. Morrison said:“I am in command of the Force and I am charged with the responsibility of leaving it in a better shape than when I took it over,” he told media representatives. “When I come to the end of my contract, in three years, I hope to have taken the Police Force forward in its thinking and the way it approaches problem–solving.”
He continued: “The key change I face at the moment…is that I need to draft and publish a policing plan – one that is open for the public to view and to hold me to account…The Policing Plan is [in] draft at the moment [and] it won’t be signed off until we have public consultation. But it will be built around three things: the first will be the Police Service itself; the second will be our relationship with the communities we serve; and the third will be the building of effective partnerships because, without a doubt, if we are to reduce crime and make Anguilla a safe place, that cannot just be done by the police acting in isolation [but] with other organisations working together to that common purpose.”
He expounded on those three areas by saying: “I need to engender a culture and a police force in which officers are proud to serve. We need to be professional and to act with ethics and integrity. We have to be competent, resilient and capable of keeping pace with change. Criminals, and serious criminals, have adapted to technology and are entrepreneurs in their own right. The police service needs to be light on its feet, flexible enough so that it can adapt to any change in threat that criminality poses to the island. We have to act with integrity – and integrity is morals and ethics. We have to be beyond reproach in terms of allegations of corruption – and corruption can take many badges. It is not just the stuff that you read about in the newspapers of bribes and taking money. Corruption can be turning a blind eye when you should act and you don’t act…”
He said he had a lot of things to do in terms of building the capabilities of the force and perhaps to maximise resources in relation to training, and to better equip the force in such matters as structures, policies and framework. He stated that the second part of the plan would be built around communities: listening to the public and reporting on what course of action was taken on certain matters; acting with fairness to attract public confidence; and to deal effectively with crime and anti-social behaviour.
Commissioner Morrison recalled that for the year so far Anguilla suffered four murders. “It is my intention to bring in an external review team to work alongside our SIOs (Senior Investigating Officers) to see if the investigations have been done diligently and effectively. It would also be a great opportunity for our SIOs to share in the knowledge of an external review team.”
He said he was at Blowing Point recently at a murder scene where between 100 and 150 persons had gathered. “It is really important that the community supports the police,” he urged. “The police are part of the community and the police cannot [succeed] without the consent and help of the community.” The Commissioner also spoke about widening criminal investigations to include the borders of Anguilla, and working closely with Immigration, Customs and the Post Office and other agencies, to share intelligence and tasks towards combating importation of firearms and illegal drugs. He also spoke about a new confidential line originating in the United States through which criminal information could be conveyed to the police in Anguilla.
He spoke about another method aimed at discouraging crime in Anguilla. “Starting from December first, those who are charged by the Royal Anguilla Police Force will have their names put in the press,” he reported. “That’s totally appropriate and has been agreed. We should be doing that, but nobody has taken that step. I think it is absolutely right and proper that we should name people.”
Mr. Morrison added: “It was my pleasure, absolute delight, in fact, to sit on an interview panel with Anuika Webster-Lake, from the Labour Department…and my Finance Officer, and interview 24 candidates for 14 posts within the police force.” He explained that the force has “a book establishment of 120 officers, but currently has 98 officers.”
