A learning visit to Anguilla from Saint Helena, in the middle of the South Atlanta, and one of the world’s most isolated islands, shows that far and near there appears to be a close-working relationship and cooperation among Britain’s various scattered Overseas Territories.
That close relationship and cooperation has been demonstrated by the visit of two officers from the Saint Helena Police and Immigration Services to garner recording information on crime from the Royal Anguilla Police Force. The officers, who came to Anguilla for two days this week, are Inspector Matt Breeze and Constable Emerald Newman who is also associated with immigration matters.
Anguilla’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison, spoke to The Anguillian about their visit.
“The two officers have come to Anguilla to look at how we use the Overseas Territories Regional Crime Intelligence System (OTRICS) which is the way we record incidence of crime in Anguilla and many of the other islands across the Caribbean,” he explained. “Saint Helena is looking to see if the system suits its purpose and I think afterwards they will be able to make a good decision.”
Inspector Breeze commented: “It is something that we are looking to have in our Police Service which would allow us to record crime and intelligence. Anguilla has been a shining example to us of how she is benefiting from the system, so that is why we are here. We are still working with Excel Spread Sheets to record our crime and so Anguilla is ahead of us.”
Woman Police Constable Newman, who is assigned to the Immigration Service, also looked forward to learning about the recording intelligence system. She said arrangements were also made for her and her colleague to meet with Immigration personnel to look at the recording systems there as well.
The tiny Saint Helena landmass has a population of about 5,000, but it is the most populous of the UK’s territories in the South Atlantic where its nearest neighbour is Ascension Island. About a year ago access to and from Saint Helena was by the Royal Mail Ship Saint Helena which provided a five-night ocean-crossing to the outside world via Cape Town, South Africa. Now, with Saint Helena’s brand new international airport in operation, the two officers visiting Anguilla were spared the long journey by sea before getting connecting flights to the island.
