Both Opposition Leader, Cora Richardson-Hodge, and her colleague, Cardigan Connor, complimented the Royal Anguilla Police Force for reinstating the idea that community-based policing is a much needed measure for preserving the safety and wellbeing of Anguilla’s residents.
Mr. Connor hailed the prospect of police officers throughout the communities as a “positive step”. The sentiments were highlighted on the weekly radio programme “Just the Facts” on Monday, 25th April.
“Community policing is something that had been put in place some years ago, and it fell off as time went by,” said Mrs. Richardson Hodge. “I remember at one point in time that we did had community police officers in our District 2 community. In fact, I used to call on Sergeant Crispin Gumbs, all the time, in his capacity as a police attached to our East End / Sandy Hill community.
“Community policing is a means of collaborating with the various communities, and establishing connections by getting the residents to see, and trust, that the police is present for the particular purpose of serving and protecting the people of the community.”
As Mr. Connor weighed in, he noted: “Yes, it is a tradition. I remember a former police officer, Mr. Irvin Carty, who used to walk the length and breadth of Anguilla. He would walk to West End especially when we would be playing cricket there, as he was an off-spinner. But the relationship that he developed with West End, gave us comfort in knowing that this policeman was an important part of our community. He was not seen by the people as an adversary but as one who played a supportive and protective role.”
He continued: “As parents, we must be careful about the things that we say to our children. If we say, for example, ‘The police will come and get you,’ that statement instills fear in the child’s mind. But, back then, in the case of Officer Carty, that was not the case.
“Today, we are fortunate, as all the other communities will be, to have the presence of a community police who will not be in the community to ‘solve crime’ per se, but to deal with some of the social issues that we face. And once that district police officer understands the circumstances that families and young people are experiencing, he or she can work with the youth and the people, generally, to make sure that they do not end up with a police record.
“Unfortunately, a number of persons who are committed to prison do not come out the better for it. They would probably come out even more hardened. So I think that reinstating Community Police is a very positive step, and I am certain that all the officers would have taken this responsibility seriously. And I trust that they would run with it…”
He recognized the work of Police Constable Carbon who stood up for the cause of right in the case of the gruesome murder of the late Kimberly Fleming. He said that Police Officer Carbon did not only act as a community police of West End, but as a representation of fairness for all of Anguilla.
