RSVGPF rewards outstanding officers

The two most outstanding police officers for 2015 are Sergeant 93 Dwayne Bailey and WPC 707 Engel Haywood.

The officers received the awards for being the most outstanding policeman and most outstanding policewoman respectively, last Saturday during the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVPF) annual awards ceremony at the Police Canteen.

Bailey, who also walked away with the award for being the most outstanding officer{{more}} in the Rapid Response Unit (RRU), was enlisted to the force in November 16, 1998, following which he served in the Fire Department, Traffic, at the Questelles and Stubbs police stations, before spending the last 12 years in the RRU.

For nine of those years, he has led the department in many gun arrests and seizures and was awarded by the FIU for his outstanding work in 2015. Despite the limited human resources, he had six gun arrests, seized over $50,000 and made a major seizure in counterfeit currency.

Meanwhile, policewoman of the year Haywood was also awarded for being the most outstanding officer attached to Port Security. After joining the police force on June 13, 2008, she worked at the Traffic Department, Beat and Patrol, High Court, several secondary schools and has served in Port Security for the past three years. During 2015 she made 12 arrests for controlled drugs and intercepted over EC$40,000 in cash and was instrumental in many other arrests. At the awards, she was described as “an asset to the organization and a true leader in every sense of the word.”

The Commissioner’s Award for Bravery went to PC 389 Careen Baptiste, who, while on duty at the Grenadines Wharf in Kingstown on Monday, September 30, 2015, approached a man and requested a search, after noticing a black bag over his shoulder. During the search, she found a firearm and arrested the man and placed him in the security booth until back-up arrived. He was later charged and sentenced to three years in prison.

Coastguard officer AB 841 Josh Hamilton, having an impressive sports career last year, walked away with the Sports Athlete of the Year award. In March of last year, he set a new record for the University of Trinidad and Tobago, when he placed first with 10.37 seconds in a 100-metre dash in Barbados. In May, he was the Most Outstanding Athlete in the Trinidad Police Games, placing first in the 60 metres, 100 metres, 200 metres and the shot put and second in the javelin throw. In August, he was also the Most Outstanding Athlete in Guyana Police Sports 2015. He also placed second in the SVG National Championships. At present, he is preparing for the Olympics in Brazil.

The most outstanding officer in the SVG Coastguard was Leading Seaman 259 Daniel Foyle. In 2015, he was the senior engineer attached to the Canouan sub base. He also used the opportunity to complete his diploma in small boat repair online and is presently pursuing another in plumbing. Foyle continued to go above and beyond his current responsibility, by putting training programmes in place to facilitate the training of youth personnel in the department. He recently completed the RSS junior leadership programme successfully and was promoted to the rank of leading seaman,

Other awards included: Most Outstanding at CID, which was awarded to PC 858 Henry Hoyte; Most Outstanding at CRO, which was awarded to PC 25 Adams; Most Outstanding at Narcotics (Drug Squad) went to PC 296 Davis; Most Outstanding Officer at Special Branch, PC 576 Dwayne Phillips; Most Outstanding at MCU to Corporal 740 Balcombe; Most Outstanding at IT Department, PC 377 Duncan; Most Outstanding at the Fire Department – Corporal 584 Keith Matthews; Sergeant 488 Samuel – Most Outstanding Officer within the SSU; Most Outstanding Police Officer for the Special Patrol Unit, in the Central Division, PC 566 Mc Alister; Most Outstanding Police Officer in the Traffic Department – PC 807 Woods, two years in a row; Most Outstanding Traffic Warden – APC Hunte pulled off the first hat-trick in this award; Most Outstanding Mechanic – PC 116 Bascombe; Most Outstanding Officer Human Resource and Planning Department – Sergeant 608 Johnson; Most Outstanding Officer Beat and Patrol Unit, PC 749 Shaka Foster; Most Outstanding Officer at DARE, PC 832 Natisha Browne; Most Outstanding Tourist Police, Sergeant DaSilva.

Divisional and District Police Officers of the Year awards: Central Division PC 103 Douglas; Eastern Division PC 714 Saville Howe; Western Division PC 864 Williams; South Central Division PC 82 Campbell; Grenadines Division PC 667 Fidel George.(AS)