Elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian newspaper is a statement by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison, about the policing of the carnival activities in Anguilla – and the fact that basically no major crimes were committed.
He indicated that while there were two stabbings, now under investigation, and a number of arrests for other offences, they were all just sporadic incidents. There was no evidence of gang violence as was the case during previous carnival activities.
“We know the tensions between young men who are affiliated with groups, colours or gangs, and we applaud them for the fact that they did not allow this to spillover into carnival and spoil the events for so many people,” the Commissioner stated. “If you think about twenty-five thousand people attending the events, you only need one incident to mar everything. I have respect for these young men for maintaining their composure, and allowing the carnival to be enjoyed by all.
“Carnival showcases what is good in Anguilla, and there are very talented people in all walks of life from the tiny tots all the way to those involved in calypso, soca, band-clash, the parade of troupes and the organisation of the events. These are big events.
A lot of people come here from around the world to take part in carnival which really showcases why this country is such a great place -with a proud people with good traditions and love for country. As far as the police job is concerned, we are not there to stop people from having fun. We are just there to make sure that they are happy in a safe place.”
The Police Commissioner went on:
“Twenty-eight people were arrested during the period 25th July until the end of the Anguilla Summer Festival. Only 11 of those arrests actually related to j’ouvert – and so you could see it was a pretty crime-free event. We picked up some persons with offensive weapons at the j’ouvert. The wounding offence took place after the parade of troupes when everybody went back to the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre. It is disturbing that some people carry knives and other sharp-bladed equipment, such as scissors, and it something that we think about a lot.
“We put in place, this year, our normal firearms contingent as we have done for the last three or four carnivals that I have been involved with – and that was mainly about managing the risks of serious crimes. For the last two carnivals we used a dedicated public order unit which involves officers with public order and safety training. They all carry personal protective equipment and their presence is specifically to deal with these types of incidents. We take our work very seriously. It is unfortunate that one of the knives recovered was in an event that was pre-searched and we have to look at this in the future.”
Mr. Morrison was grateful to Captain Neville Hamilton, of the Anguilla Cadet Corps, for making available a number of its members to assist Police Officers during the parade of troupes. The youngsters, with hard police helmets, and travelling on bicycles, joined the police, also on bikes, in navigating through the parade to ensure that all was in order. Commissioner Morrison, who took overall command of the parade of troupes, also rode his motorbike in and out of the festive crowd – and back and forth to other commanding officers at key locations. It was all a most impressive and entertaining sight yet a display of serious policing.
Among the things that the Commissioner has taken note of, and to be addressed later on, is the challenge posed by the heavy traffic and parking in such carnival areas as Sandy Ground – the site of the Caribbean Beach Party. He stated that there was little or no opportunity for emergency vehicles to get to the area should there be an urgent situation.
Summing up his comments about the carnival events, Mr. Morrison observed: “The public, organisers, vendors, entertainers, artistes, dancers, and those behind the scenes, all went there with the ambition of having a safe and enjoyable carnival and I think we achieved that. The statistics will show that it was a safe carnival and that it was enjoyed with tolerance and mutual respect. I think that Anguilla should be justly proud that it pulled off such a fantastic event.”
He continued: “Each event had a specific police commander. Each commander had to write a post-event debrief including the location, number of persons attended, incidents that took place and issues that need to be addressed in the future. All of those reports have been collated and are part of an ongoing effort by the Royal Anguilla Police Force to develop what I describe as a corporate memory – that is the experience of policing events and capturing them in a way that could be used in the future.
“The Royal Anguilla Police Force is one of the organisations that have embraced change. It is not afraid to try new things and it continues to develop itself. We have some fantastic officers and other staff working for us – who are trying to think about the type of police force Anguilla wants and then delivering it.”
