Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 13, 2014 (SKNIS): The improvement of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police (RSCNPF) continues with the graduation of personnel from an Internal Affairs Investigation Course as well as an Audit and Inspection Course on Thursday (November 13).
The courses began on November 03 at the Police Training Complex and were facilitated by J. Michael Stiers and Donald Lizotte under the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme (ICITAP), which is an initiative of the United States Department of Justice.
Sergeant Everton Mitchum spoke on behalf of the participants and highlighted some key points that stood out under the internal investigation programme.
“Building and maintaining community trust is the cornerstone of successful policing and law enforcement and as such the building and maintenance of trust takes a great deal of continuous effort,” he stated. Noting that the actions of one individual can severely harm the force’s reputation, Sergeant Mitchum emphasized that “the guidelines that we were given for the effective function of the internal affairs component of the Office of Professional Standards addresses every aspect from complaint processing to decision making, which ultimately results in a highly professional police force and much needed community transparency.”
Sergeant Marva Chiverton praised the expertise of the facilitators who brought new concepts to the audit and inspection procedures that reviews staff and departmental operations.
“The audit and inspection exercise was not simply designed to identify problems but also for the finding of solutions to those problems such as addressing outdated policies and making recommendations to promote, encourage and enhance performance,” she outlined.
A mock exercise saw the class going to the Dieppe Bay Police Station to practice what they learnt in theory. The police sergeant said that the findings were quite useful and challenged participants to develop creative strategies to correct issues identified.
Commissioner of Police Celvin G. Walwyn thanked the facilitators and officials at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados for its continued support for the many training initiatives of the RSCNPF, which includes a similar course held in August this year. He also encouraged the local officers to implement the new techniques in day-to-day duties and share what they learnt with others.