COP: No room for complacency or taking chances

Thirteen police officers from different branches and departments of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force were on Friday, June 15, {{more}} presented with certificates of participation, after successfully completing the Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) Development and Junior NCOs Orientation course.

Giving the student report, Chief Petty Officer Dominique Stowe noted that the course commenced on June 4 and concluded on June 15. Stowe said the courses were led by eight instructors from the public service and 11 from within the ranks of the police force.

Some of the topics discussed throughout the course included: Human Rights issues in policing, managing major events, research methods, identification parade and procedure, community policing, domestic violence, human trafficking, human resource management, among others.

The participants in the courses came from the Coastguard, Traffic Branch, Rapid Response Unit, Police Band, Fire Brigade, Special Branch, Telecom, Southern Grenadines and the Western divisions.

In a brief address at the ceremony at the Old Montrose Police Station, Commissioner of Police Keith Miller stressed the importance of training to the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force. Miller, said without the continuous training, the organization would not be able to proceed professionally.

He further urged the officers to go back to their various divisions and departments and impart their knowledge to other officers.

“Let us see from here how we can reduce the number of problems we face on a day-to-day basis in running a police station or a department…,” Miller stated.

According to the Commissioner, persons must not wait until they are promoted or appointed to take up certain degree of responsibility.

“There is no room for complacency, no room for taking chances; policing calls for a systematic approach…,” he added.

Chairman of the Police Service Commission Cecil ‘Blazer’ Williams, delivering the keynote address, reinforced Miller’s points on training. Williams, a lawyer by profession, said there has to be some mechanism within the police force to train officers to make regular ongoing assessment of their colleagues.

Since criminals are using different means of technology to aid in their crimes, Williams said it is important that officers be exposed to such training.

“ …They ought to be engaged regularly in short training courses and ought to be engaged regularly in workshops and conferences where new developments in police management and police investigations are discussed,” Williams said.

He said such experiences considerably enhance the competency and confidence of senior officers. According to Williams, if there is going to be ongoing training, there must be provision for resources to be made available to conduct the programs.

Commandant Frankie Joseph also gave brief remarks at the closing ceremony.(KW)