When the newly appointed police commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda took part in a recent “Take Back the Night” walk—the first time a senior officer had done so—there was noticeable surprise from locals. For years, the small twin-island Caribbean country’s police force had been mired in allegations of corruption, incompetence and damaging political scandals. As a result, residents had long viewed the force with skepticism and distrust.
Source: EMBASSY
We find this news report which originates out of Canada to be interesting on several fronts. Our first inclination is to comment on the deterioration of law and order in a neighbouring Caribbean island to the point where it has to transplant retired foreign law officers to reign in the level of crime which is rhampant on the twin island of Antigua and Barbuda. Here is a snippet of what the retired Canadian Commissioner of Police had to say as he looks forward to the challenge in the tropical twin island:
In an interview last week from Antigua, Commissioner Nelson said that after 37 years of policing experience in Ottawa, coming into a force that has operated for years without proper policies, training and equipment, has been extremely challenging.
We are sure that some BU family members may not agree with our next position, but shouldn’t we feel slighted as Caribbean people that four retired Canadian law officers should be the ones expected to save the crime situation in Antigua and Barbuda? Many years after gaining sovereignty (independence) from the mother country, should this not have signaled our ability as nations to manage our domestic affairs? Would it not make more sense to have these people work in the background to support the local policemen? This could be construed as a slap in the face of the local police hierarchy. We are aware that Jamaica and Trinidad have also dabbled with importing foreign police labour.
Commissioner Nelson has wasted no time publicizing the inadequacies of the Antigua and Barbuda police force. Here is a another snippet:
Building up the basic day-to-day policing operations is pretty difficult because the force lacks even the most basic infrastructure, said former Nova Scotia RCMP chief superintendent Tom Bennett, now the deputy commissioner of operations in Antigua.
It is hard to believe that this is a country which spent US54 million dollars to prepare for Cricket World Cup 2007. Let us not forget Caribbean Single Market and Economy and the need to have an efficient immigration infrastructure to protect national security. It just makes us shake our heads and ask, where are our priorities.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.