Montserrat’s Police Must Fix “Gaps” in Operational Procedures: Review

Above: Montserrat

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Royal Montserrat Police Service has “significant gaps in its operational procedures” that must be fixed to ensure that the community is served effectively, according to a review of the service commissioned by Governor Adrian Davis.

The review, which was conducted from April 30 to May 11, found that the force’s strategic plan needed to be updated, and that there was no annual policing plan to drive the delivery of the strategy plan.

“There was an absence of a recognized performance management culture within the service,” the review team said in its report.

The review called for “wide-ranging legislative reform” to support and assist the RMPS in its delivery of police services.

Larry Covington, law enforcement advisor to the Foreign and Commwealth Office Overseas Territories Directorate, along with Anthony Ennis, Cayman’s deputy police commissioner and British Virgin Islands Acting Deputy Commissioner Alwin James conducted the review.

“A number of external stakeholders and junior RMPS officers commented that the RMPS lacked dynamic leadership and a cohesive senior management team,” the review said.

Taking into consideration police workforce numbers, incidents and demand for police services and reported crimes, among other factors, the review found that the present strength of the force was “adequate to meet the current policing demand of Montserrat,” but that “much more can be achieved through intelligence-led deployment strategies.”

The team also recommended that the Salem Police Station should be reopened and fully manned, and that CCTV could help the police monitor entry and exit into the island’s exclusion zones.

In January, Montserrat undertook an internal investigation into alleged police misconduct by two officers in December. The two officers were arrested in mid-December, with one suspended and another receiving compulsory leave.