Police call for more regional assistance

GREATER regional cooperating is needed to combat the threats that have bombarded the law enforcement agencies in these modern times.

This was the view expressed by Commissioner of Police Bertram Pompey as he addressed the 15 participants in the SVG Coast Guard Basic Seamanship Course.{{more}}

Pompey said that the world is changing rapidly, and so too, the security landscape, therefore a holistic approach is needed to tackle the challenges.

“The vulnerability of the Caribbean Civilization with our extended, exposed and therefore porous borders render us prime targets for the modern-day crime pirates,” Pompey said.

He told the participants that the security threats have changed as criminals have become more organized and difficult to catch.

Coast Guard Commander Tyrone James, in his brief address said that the course is an integral part of the coast guard’s development and maturity. He said that St Vincent and the Grenadines could not leave its human resource development up to others and must embrace the responsibility.

The course, which is the third of it’s kind to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines aims to teach the participants the fundamentals of seamanship, introduction to navigation, firefighting skills, troubleshooting skills, boat handling among other important skills.

Commander James said that he was glad that the course was accredited by the Regional Security System (RSS) and welcomed the foreign participants to the course.

Two Grenadian coast guard officers and two St Lucian marine police officers will join one member of the local port police, one customs officer, a marine cadet, a guard from the Tobago Cays Marine Park and seven local coast guard officers in the five week course.

Lieutenant Leonard Cox of the RSS commended the local coast guard for their foresight in seeking accreditation for the training course. He said that the Basic Seamanship Course is usually conducted at the RSS training base in Antigua but said that because the local course is accredited, participants will receive the same certificate as those who do it in Antigua.

Cox, who is in charge of Marine and Aviation matters at the RSS challenged the participants to be dedicated, apply themselves and achieve great success.