United States provides $286,000 for RSS Training and Vetting

On Monday, April 30, Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy Christopher Sandrolini and Regional Security Coordinator Grantley Watson signed an amended letter of agreement between the United States and the Regional Security System (RSS), providing the Eastern Caribbean with US$286,000 in new funding for the RSS training and vetting missions.{{more}}

The United States committed US$186,000 to support the RSS training mission to upgrade the skills and capabilities of law enforcement and defense personnel of RSS member nations. This new funding is part of the United States’ on-going commitment to support the RSS training mission.

“The United States is also pleased to provide US$100,000 in funding for a new initiative to assist the RSS regional vetting program. This program seeks to insure the integrity of member nation law enforcement and defense personnel to promote the free flow of information among member states in combating transnational crime. To date, the United States has provided more than US$100,000 in funding for contract polygraph examiners to vet member nation law enforcement and defense personnel with access to sensitive and classified information,” a release from the US Embassy in Bridgetown said.

“In this exciting new initiative, the United States will provide full funding for up to four members of the RSS staff to become trained to internationally-accepted standards as polygraph examiners. One of the four staff members will have the opportunity to undertake advanced training to achieve certification as a master trainer of polygraph examiners. In this way, the member nations of the RSS will have their own indigenous vetting capability and the means to sustain that capability by training future examiners right here in the Eastern Caribbean,” the release said.

With this additional US$286,000 in new funding, the United States has committed well over US$ 23 million in support of the RSS since 1999.

This new funding is made possible by President Obama’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), which has provided more than US$143 million to the Caribbean since 2009.

CBSI is a partnership between the United States and the countries of the Caribbean under which we have agreed to share the responsibility for implementing our common vision for a safer, more prosperous Caribbean region. Under CBSI the United States and our Caribbean partners have pledged to seek durable security solutions through sustainable programs over which our regional partners take eventual ownership.