Like any such law enforcement agency, the Royal Anguilla Police Force comprises several ranks including Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent, Inspector, Sergeant and Constable (except Corporal). Being the lowest of the ranks, the Constable finds himself subject to the command of all of his seniors in the Force; but when he is also a Pastor, it is quite a different setting when his superiors turn up at his Church and have to listen to, and obey, his sermon.
And so it was when the Royal Anguilla Police Force officially began its 48th Anniversary and Police Week 2020 on Sunday, January 26, with a Church Service at the Life Impact Centre, that the Preacher was Constable Shawn Lake one of the fiery Pastors there. In addition to the rank and file of the Anguilla Police Officers, the congregation included the visiting Voluntary Korps of St. Maarten, Anguilla’s Governor, Mr. Tim Foy, OBE, who has responsibility for the Police, Premier Victor Banks and his Ministerial colleagues, Judiciary officials and other invited guests.
Following a stirring performance by the Praise and Worship Team, Constable Lake delivered an equally influential sermon, entitled “The Bible and the Police Officer”, which commanded the attention of his listeners.
Describing the Bible as a Constitution, he showed how, like the laws of society, it governs the rights and behavior of persons; requires individuals, such as police officers, to be peacemakers; compassionate; show respect and fairness for persons; and be examples to others, among other qualities of leadership. He climaxed his hour-long sermon by inviting the police officers to the altar for prayer.
Constable Lake, preached the sermon – on the Beatitudes – in the absence of Apostle Lucien McDonna who had a previous engagement in St. Maarten and sent his greetings and apologies. Lake is a member of the Public Relations Department of the Royal Anguilla Police Force and leads the Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) programme in schools.
Earlier, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison, delivered an address in which he said the anniversary committee of the Force had put together a programme “which re-enforces our commitment to nurture and build a relationship with communities across Anguilla.” He stressed that “Police Week was all about nurturing that relationship between us and you. As we strive to keep Anguilla safe, we all must work together in order to achieve that goal.”
The Commissioner continued: “This year’s theme, ‘Serving with pride, honour and dedication’, is drawn from our commitment to build a resilient police force. The theme re-enforces the way in which we now deliver policing. We are focusing on serious crime reduction; developing and educating our workforce; we have re-allocated many of our resources; professionalised our investigations; performance is delivered by having our staff properly briefed; making best use of our intelligence; and embracing opportunities that are presented to us. These are all areas that we have focused on over my time in command, and we will work during 2020 to develop them further. It is also a theme which shows that we also worked in an ever-changing environment, and the need to keep reviewing our performance must be very much part of our personal DNA.
“We start this year with the introduction of our recruit training programme and I am very pleased that our recruits are here today. This would speak to the future officers of the Royal Anguilla Police Force in policy, legislation and policing techniques that are important in delivering a first-class service in terms of investigation, respect for the community, care for our witnesses and victims, and treating suspects fairly with due regard to their human rights.”
Following the service, the police personnel from Anguilla and St. Maarten, led by the Royal Anguilla Police/Community Band, paraded along the main road outside the church. The parade was witnessed by officials from both territories, with Commissioner Morrison taking the salute.
