It has been approximately two months since Mr. Paul Morrison assumed the top cop position in the Royal Anguilla Police Force (RAPF). Following the hasty departure of his predecessor, Mrs. Amanda Stewart, from our shores as a result of public outcry over her unfortunate remarks to the press about Anguilla and its people, Mr. Morrison received a cautious, some may say lukewarm, welcome to Anguilla. His swearing in was quite low key, compared to the pomp and ceremony that marked Mrs. Stewart’s appointment.
Despite sliding below the radar into the seat of Commissioner of Police, Mr. Morrison has made it quite clear that he is here to do the best job that he can for the duration of his term. His efforts in engaging the community by holding a series of community meetings, to find out what members of the public want from the Police Force, was a step in the right direction. I hope that persons would have used that opportunity to advise the Commissioner of any concerns they have about how the Force functions – and pointed out areas for improvement. Additionally, the Commissioner must be commended for bringing in a team of experienced investigators to support the RAPF by reviewing four unsolved murder cases and assisting the Force to, hopefully, bring the perpetrators to justice. Mr. Morrison has also been busy seeking to recruit additional officers for the Force to bolster capacity and responsiveness. It is obvious from his interactions with the public and the press to date, and the manner in which the situation at the House of Assembly was managed during the attempted and the actual first reading of the Banking Bill, that, with his experience and his calm, confident and controlled disposition, he has the capacity to serve Anguilla well.
However, as a patriotic Anguillian it is always my hope that the position of Commissioner of Police will be occupied permanently by an Anguillian, and it is also my hope that that Anguillian will receive the cooperation and respect that our public so easily bestows on others from abroad. It is true that a man receives no glory in his own country, but this should not deter any Anguillian from preparing himself/herself to takeover the reins of the Force. I therefore urge our Commissioner to ensure that his policing plan for Anguilla includes a succession plan and a significant capacity building component. I am sure that by now he would have done an assessment of his officers – and over the next few months he should have a clear idea of their development path. Where training is needed it should be provided; where opportunities for exposure or attachments to other police forces exist, officers should be given those opportunities; where there are opportunities for growth and development, these should be shared; where there is passion and interest in particular areas of policing, these should be harnessed and used to strengthen the Force. In short, we expect that by the time the Commissioner’s term of office is up, he would have ensured that there are several Anguillian officers equipped to assume his role and many others ready to fill any slots available as a result of promotions.
While our Government has no direct control over who assumes the leadership of the RAPF (since that is under the Governor’s remit), I believe that it is still in a position to exert pressure on the Governor to ensure that there is a robust succession plan and training programme in place, for the Royal Anguilla Police Force, so that when the Commissioner’s contract ends, the age old excuse of “nobody is ready” will not be able to justify a contract extension. It is imperative that our Government insists that we equip our own people to fill these critical roles, as this will not necessarily be the focus of the Governor who will arguably only be concerned with the slot being filled by the most suitably qualified person – with little thought given to putting measures in place for the development of Anguillian officers which may result in them actually being the most suitably qualified persons. In other words, our Government has to look out for our people because there is no guarantee that anyone else will.
In the meantime, as a community, we must support Commissioner Morrison and all the other ranks of the RAPF as they do their best to keep our communities safe – and to preserve the peaceful way of life that we all treasure on our little island paradise.
