Agreement reached for the
Philipsburg Tourist Police
By Alfred Harley
PHILIPSBURG--Police Chief Commissioner of the Windward Islands Derrick Holiday says an agreement has been reached between the Island Government of St. Maarten and the Justice Minister of the Netherlands Antilles for the start of a Tourist Police Squad, which will have a start-up cost of about NAf. 1 million.
The joint venture between the Island and Central Governments to increase security in Philipsburg also includes complete camera surveillance of Philipsburg, for which plans are already in place.
He said, “We want to reduce the number of unsolved cases by about 15 per cent, but that would mean a better patrol system to curtail burglaries, purse snatchings and armed robberies, and with this programme we are confident that we will be able to do that by providing 24-hour patrol and surveillance in the Philipsburg area, to begin with.”
Holiday said, “I have had a look at the plans for the surveillance cameras in Philipsburg and I must say I am very impressed.”
He noted that police had struggled with getting information when crimes happened on Front or Back Street in the past. Amidst the security companies with personnel working there “and with this new programme Tourist Police, the problem will be addressed and a significant decrease in criminal activities will be noticed.”
He said, “If you walk Front or Back Street you will see a security guard for every two stores, but it’s amazing that you can’t get information from them when something happens. That means someone is paying a lot of money for nothing.”
He used the fire at the Prosecutor’s Office as an example and said while so many security officers had been working on Front Street, none had been able to provide any information to detectives.
Holiday told The Daily Herald on Wednesday that recruitment for some 16 Tourist Police officers would probably start within a week. He said recruitment of the new Tourist Police officers would be handled by his department.
“We will select the candidates, go through the usual procedure of background investigations and make recommendations to the Island Government, which will be responsible for paying them. Once they are hired they will fall under the command of the police,” he said.
Holiday is optimistic about this project as he sees it as a means of curtailing a large percentage of the break-ins into vehicles and stores in the Philipsburg area in particular. The intention is that the Tourist Police will be hired by the Island Government and assigned to work with the Central Government Police Force, wearing normal police uniforms.
Holiday said they would be given proper training to function in their capacity as police officers. He said the initial cost of the project was NAf.1 million, which will cover the uniforms, materials, car(s) and other equipment, “and once it’s started the annual cost of maintaining the programme will be far less.”
When asked what this meant for Philipsburg, for tourists and residents alike, Holiday said the area would have 24-hour patrols by the Tourist Police. The idea for Tourist Police was recommended years ago by police and was reborn about a year ago when Dr. Peter Tarlow, an expert in tourism security for developing countries, recommended it as being a necessary step to secure the island’s economy.
Tarlow had been invited to the island by President of the Chamber of Commerce’s Petit Committee Eugene James to conduct a week-long conference on the issue. During this conference he outlined the importance of police officers specially trained to handle tourists, while also dealing with regular criminal activities such as car thefts, break-ins, robberies and purse snatching that occur in busy areas.
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