Thirteen Marechaussees sworn in,
urged to cooperate with others
PHILIPSBURG--Thirteen Royal Dutch police officers Marechaussees were sworn in Tuesday ahead of a year-long tenure in the Windward Islands to assist with border controls and in response to calls to continue staffing the three-island Police Force.
The Marechaussees are set to begin working in St. Maarten starting today, Wednesday, primarily as Immigration enforcers, and within two weeks several will be deployed to Saba and St. Eustatius to help control the crime and Immigration situations there, Marechaussees commanding officer Jan Rooiiakker told the gathering of police, prosecutors and high-ranking officials during the ceremony.
The top Justice authorities urged cooperation between the newest officers to practice in the Netherlands Antilles and police already working in the Windward Islands Police Force.
The Marechaussees will be stationed at the island’s main ports of entry – Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in Simpson Bay and Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities in Pointe Blanche – while working in close cooperation with other Immigration, Customs and Coast Guard officers, explained Rooijakker, who works and lives in Curaçao.
They will be rotated to Saba and Statia in three- to four-week intervals to assist in preventing and repressing crime as well as handling Immigration matters.
The Marechaussees’ arrival is in response to numerous calls from authorities for more assistance for the police.
The 13 Dutch officers are joining a Police Force that is plagued by well-documented understaffing issues and suffers from occasionally low morale, St. Maarten’s Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards said, urging the Marechaussees to be open-minded and cooperative under these conditions.
Richards warned that the arrival of these officers would not instantly mean an end to criminality in the Windward Islands. “Let’s not think that because the Marechaussees are here, crimes are going to stop completely,” Richards said, urging that the public become involved in helping to end crime.
Leader of Government Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams made a similar appeal Sunday in light of a recent spate of brazen robberies, calling for the community to step forward and help police catch criminals. “As a law-abiding society, we cannot tolerate a few wreaking havoc for the majority by creating an atmosphere of fear,” she said. “We should not tolerate it.”
Lt. Governors Sydney Sorton of Saba and Hyden Gittens of Statia both welcomed the Marechaussees to the Windward Islands and said this would be a boon towards catching criminals and preventing crime. Sorton called it “a great thing that Saba would be getting these Marechaussees,” and Gittens asserted that these officers would assist with the police’s “preventive approach” to crime.
Windward Islands Chief Prosecutor and Acting Attorney General Taco Stein insisted that the communities in St. Maarten, Saba and Statia be proactive in stopping crime and assisting police with tips about criminal behaviour. “It is our responsibility as a country [the Netherlands Antilles], and it is our responsibility as a people,” Stein said.
Six other Marechaussees officers joined the St. Maarten force in December to assist detectives on the island, primarily with robberies. In total, more than 80 Marechaussees are stationed in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, most of them in Curaçao.
