His five-years of official duties practically at an end, following a splendid farewell ceremony and the waning down of the 2021 Police Week of activities, Commissioner Paul Morrison engaged in two final things. He laid aside his formal uniform and set about clearing off his desk to leave Anguilla.
For him, his sights are now fixed on returning to the United Kingdom on Sunday, January 31, leaving behind a legacy of developing the Royal Anguilla Police Force and empowering the men and women under his command.
“I am now venturing into the unknown,” he said half-way to himself and to The Anguillian newspaper interviewing him — his darting reddened eyes looking beyond the room.
“The job and the country touched me,” he emotionally remarked with his usual heavy British accent. “I took out the emotion out of difficult decisions, but the energy and effort that I always put in, to do my job, has taken its toll. It made me quite close to my work and those around me; and the farewell ceremony was a very emotional moment.”
Members of his High Command, and the other rank and file of the law enforcement agency, have all savoured and will long remember his tough, but compassionate demeanour, as he sought to mould them into the type of officers he thought they should be. He is known to have been a stringent yet compassionate enforcer of discipline. When asked about the complement of the Force, he scratched his head, saying it was about 111, as he had to dismiss a number of officers who had not measured up to his expectations. “It was a very difficult thing to do. I regretted it but, unfortunately, it was necessary,” he said with some emotion.
His officers remember the almost 7-foot tall Commissioner strutting down the corridors of Police Headquarters passionately expressing his expectations of them; and, in the lecture room, setting out his policing strategies and policies of crime detection, internal leadership and discipline.
Morrison came to Anguilla at a time when there was much serious crime on the island, including gun violence, and when there was a declining of public confidence in, and esteem for, the Police Force. His remedial task was not only to try to correct that negativity, but to be seen as an effective leader as well as dealing with the sometimes scathing personal criticisms thrown against himself.
The level of his success in crime prevention, the development of the Force and the empowerment of its officers, may have contributed to the large and delightful turnout, and complimentary remarks, at the farewell ceremony.
Reflecting on some aspects of his work, the departing Commissioner told the newspaper: “You got to think about strategies that are safe; always remain human rights compliant; respect people – you cannot just bulldoze your way out of these sorts of problems; and you need to invest a lot of time and effort into the persons who are going to tackle the problems of law and order. You have to develop your officers if you are going to tackle serious crime; you have to give them the skills, the equipment and the resources. You have to make it a priority and focus the organisation on those tasks.
“I think that took some time, but it was along the models which I was used to see and deal with in the UK. Some of the tactics may perhaps were not suitable to Anguilla, and there was a need to temper things down. Did I always get it right? I will have to say no; but I tried my best to get it right. Invariably, policing is a business or occupation where it is not possible to get it right all the time. Generally, I have sought to do the right thing, to develop the Force and to keep the people safe.”
Questioned further, as to his accomplishments in Anguilla, he replied: “In terms of legacy, I would like to see that everything I did is going to be maintained, but that is not normally the case. I think the things I will take away, the most, include my empowerment of staff to make decisions. Having given officers the confidence to make decisions – even if they are not the right decisions in an environment where they are guided and supported – there was a need to support them without punishing them…It was always about improving services for the public, if the officers have the ability to make decisions that lead to final outcomes at an early stage. Of course, if necessary, their decisions always reverted to the Commissioner for redress.”
Mr. Morrison continued: “Another thing, I will take away, and I hope will be maintained by the Force, is the commitment to fight crime, using models and techniques that are more likely to succeed, if tried. I think the [low] crime figures speak for themselves, but I have been criticised because it was not possible to bring crime down to zero in an island of fourteen/fifteen thousand people. Crime still exists and can never be fully eradicated.”
Commenting about being relaxed in a Police Week t-shirt, he said: “The last time I wore my police uniform was on Sunday, January 24th. I am packing at the moment. I have to send things home and give back the uniform. I don’t think it is a good thing to wear uniform in my last week when I am transitioning.
“The Deputy [Elliott Forbes] and the Superintendent [Haslyn Patterson] are picking up 90 percent of the work at the moment. It is a huge amount of work I have to do in wrapping up my office, in terms of documentation and my private life, in order that I can exit Anguilla.”
Asked where he thought the coming new British Commissioner, Mr. David Lynch, would pick up from him, he responded: “All leaders have the latitude to challenge if they wish. I think the Force has come along a significant journey. There are several things to do including the staff appraisals to finish; and there will be crime this year which will test the new Commissioner.
“The models and techniques we use in Anguilla are common in the UK, but I expect that there will be a significant change in terms of the investigative model. There may be a realignment of resources, but we have come a long way in understanding the business that we are in. Just like any other business, you need to know the facts, figures, workloads and stresses of the organisation in order that you can plan and allocate resources properly. We have come a long way in our collection of meaningful data – not just data because it is nice to have, but data that has some functioning in terms of decision-making.
“I expect that the incoming Commissioner will be presently surprised. He will have a fresh pair of eyes and a fresh approach. He is a different character and people will be warm to him. He is a nice guy.”
Mr. Morrison is still a relatively young and energetic man. What will he be pursuing on his return to England where he served as Chief Superintendent and Head of Operations for the Surrey and Sussex Police? He answered:
“I have my plans. I would like to be associated with giving something back – perhaps to training or advising. However, I am not sure that my stage in life will give me another command opportunity, but you cannot rule anything out. I still have a lot of energy and a lot of capacity to do many things. To be honest, I have no idea. Right now, it is a step into the unknown for me.”
