The people of Anguilla are now better informed about various activities and initiatives of the Royal Anguilla Police Force following an address delivered this week by Commissioner Paul Morrison.
He spoke to the people of the island at the Kingdom Vision Apostle Church at The Farrington, where the church service launching Police Week was held on Sunday, January 22, and in a radio broadcast on Monday night.
“We have introduced the child safeguarding board to start the very complex challenge of preventing, detecting and managing child exploitation which includes sexual abuse,” he reported. “We have introduced two new community schemes to deliver improved policing to the West End and Black Garden areas. We have trained seven sergeants through the University of the West Indies in community policing. We are now looking at the community policing programme for all districts which we will seek to implement before April albeit a few months later than we initially set out for.”
The Commissioner continued: “In 2016 we restructured our resources and placed a very heavy emphasis on fighting serious crime. This has seen a reduction in gun-related crime and incidents, improved arrests for serious crime and seizure of more firearms and ammunition. We have introduced witness protection and video link evidence to take better care of those who are willing to come forward. I have also set out to tackle corruption by making it harder for people to put their hands into ‘the cookie jar’. We still have a long way to go, but our ability to perform our duties is dependent upon public approval of our actions. We therefore must always strive to secure the willing cooperation of the public.”
The Police Commissioner spoke about staff development training, to be funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, during February and March this year. The training will be geared towards improving investigations, statement taking, interviewing and the management of serious crime including child exploitation.
He went on: “We will have new computers funded by the FCO to allow more officers access to IT, and will also introduce electronic comprehensive custody records. We hope to revamp our custody arrangements further with FCO funded support. This will help us to have facilities that better meet our obligations under human rights for the lawful detention of persons. As part of an integrated British Overseas Territories project, we will incorporate a whole new system and approach which will revolutionise the way in which we examine ballistic evidence.
“We have secured funding from Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command UK for training; a child orientated interview room; and an upgraded exhibits facility. This will incorporate new forensic equipment and storage for exhibits and samples. In a joint project, with support from the Government of Anguilla and Her Excellency the Governor, we we will employ a digital forensic expert. We will also install new equipment that will greatly improve our ability to fight serious crime and child exploitation.”
Mr. Morrison commended the members of the Police Force for their dedication, patience, and diligence during 2016. He was grateful to his senior officers who daily promote and implement the policy strategy and the need for change within the Anguillian community. He also expressed gratitude to individuals and organisations for their work – whether through providing information, supporting officers and/or working with the police – to implement new methods and approaches to serving the public.
“It is my goal to develop leadership at all levels of this organisation by equipping staff to make good decisions and build their confidence in operational, executive and business skills,” he pledged. He observed that this would “enable them to make sense of a complex policing environment.”
