This week the Royal Anguilla Police Force is celebrating its Forty-first Anniversary. Though still young, that is no mean feat for a small and ill-equipped group of law enforcement personnel charged with maintaining law and order in a small but complex island with a growing and challenging crime rate.
It is amazing to consider the number and type of offences committed by persons sometimes not only during the cloak of darkness but, also, in recent times, in broad daylight. Sadly, our island has been stained by gun violence resulting in death and paralysis, and by armed robberies and burglaries which have left many persons mercilessly plundered and their security breached and severely compromised.There is obviously an urgent need to repair the damage done to the island and to stamp down on the ugly head of violent crime.
It is also amazing that despite certain shortcomings, our often-criticised Police Force has been able, and continues, to handle the crime situation with much success with or without public assistance. It is indeed arguable that if members of the populace, having useful information, were to have been more cooperative with the Police that there would not have been unsolved crimes of murderstill under investigation.
The current Police Week of activities has brought our Police Officers under the spotlight, and in close association with members of the public through a number of crowd-attracting social events. The Commissioner and his Management Team have sought to capitalise on their anniversary celebrations by creating a theme which, in its latter phrase, in a way markets the Force to members of the public and enlists their involvement. That theme is: “Celebrating Our Achievements, Recognising Our Challenges and Embracing New Alliances”. Those alliances, to a large measure, must include the residents of Anguilla who must assist the Police in solving crime and bringing its perpetrators to justice.Such assistance is not merely to bolster the image or achievements of the Police, but in reality to protect the peace and quiet of Anguilla and the safety of its people.
In today’s world, there is growing disrespect for the Police, particularly by groups and individuals with rebellious attitudes against what they commonly refer to “as the establishment”. This does not augur well for a peaceful and law-abiding society – and it places law enforcement bodies, governments, the public and country in a very awkward and precarious situation. Obviously, the law enforcement agencies experience the full brunt of the onslaught as they seek to maintain an orderly and safe society.
If there is one major requirement of the members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, like all other law enforcement personnel everywhere, it is that they should at all times bear themselves with dignity and respect thereby attracting the same from those looking at them. As the saying goes, “respect begets respect”.There is certainly a need to respect our Police Officers who guard us night and day in private and public life, sometimes putting their own safety at risk. This respect must filter down from those in leadership positions to those in the lower levels of society including our young people who can easily be misled by observing the attitude and behaviour of adult persons who should be examples to them.
An appalling demonstration of lack of respect for the Police was seen at the Church Service at St. Augustine’s, East End, on Sunday, January 27, commemorating the Forty-first Anniversary of the Royal Anguilla Police Force. Even the smallest child could have instantly observed that the reserved front benchwas painfully empty. Not one Government Minister was present. Just where were Chief Minister Hughes and his other Ministers? Certainly, it was not just for the Governor who has responsibility for the Police to attend the service or even for his Deputy to do so. It was for the whole of the Anguilla Government to be in attendance. Their absence was inexcusable. It looked bad and disrespectful and an apology should be in order.
The Government must be careful to be a guardian of its own image. Teachers at their recent public meeting complained about the disrespect meted out to them by the Government, and members of the public, at that meeting, recalled instances where they too were disrespected. The Police can now claim the same.
In a recent incident, where his Chief Whip allegedly disrespected members of the London Police, Prime Minister, David Cameron, made the point that the Police were doing an outstanding job in the United Kingdom, and that he and his family were conscious of the protection they were receiving from the Police and of their work for everybody in public life. He added that he was grateful for that, and that the Police should always be respected. Our Government in Anguilla must also be conscious of the work of our Police Officers and show them the respect due to them.
