Bolstering the force
Yesterday’s police report mentioned three armed robberies within two days. That is not exceptionally much, but on a small island can have quite an impact when it comes to the public feeling safe and secure.
The official statistics released recently indicated that the crime rate in fact had not risen as many seem to believe is the case. However, the fact of the matter is that the increasingly violent nature of crimes and the audacity with which they are often committed remain reason for concern.
As the Antillean Police Force celebrated its 59th anniversary yesterday much of the focus was on the process to improve the force and beef it up in terms of both manpower and tools. The Windward Islands force is no doubt going through difficult times, with several of its highest ranking officers the subjects of penal investigations and charges, but since the appointment of an interim coach to guide the organisation things appear to have calmed down as work to upgrade the police and its service to the public continues.
And that is important not so much because of the constitutional changes that will result in St. Maarten having its own Justice Minister, Prosecution and Police Force, but because the economic survival of the island and its one-pillar tourism economy depends on it. Crime is a major issue among visitors and especially considering the current outlook for the all-important US market, every effort must be made to keep it under control.
Doing so will require major investments and other resources that may be difficult for a small island to provide on its own. Luckily, the Netherlands is concerned about law enforcement in the Antilles and willing to help strengthen it, making the current improvement projects possible. This concern also led to the desire in The Hague to come to a joint umbrella police organisation, something St. Maarten and Curaçao considered unacceptable.
What has now been agreed on in yesterday’s meeting in Willemstad is that each of the two future countries and the three BES islands as a whole will indeed have their own police forces. However, there will be joint services in a supporting role to the police forces in question; among other things, authorising police to act in all the territories, while matters such as border-crossing and organised crime as well as training will be handled together.
It appears a pragmatic solution has been found to translate the concern in The Hague into actions that bolster the police in the islands without placing them directly under another entity, while agreement was also reached on the Prosecution. All in all, much-needed good news on the law enforcement front.
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