COMMUNITY POLICING AMONG ENHANCED TRAINING COURSE FOR NEW POLICE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 21, 2018 (SKNIS): Community policing is an important strategic objective of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF), and the recruits of Course 42 are being brought up to speed on the techniques and programmes that are currently being employed to improve relations and build greater confidence between law enforcement and the public.

On Thursday (September 20), Commandant of the Police Training Complex, Inspector Eldrin Dickenson, gave an update on the progress of Course 42 and noted that there is special emphasis being placed on the community engagement strategy that cross cuts several action points in the Six-Point Plan for the Reduction of Homicides and Violent Crimes 2015.

“We are conducting a lot of community policing classes that will help them so that when they do go out into the world of policing they will understand what the concept of community policing is so that they can help, they can reassure the residents and visitors that they will be safe in this country,” he said.

Instructors were sure to include the recruits in activities at the 2^nd Annual Ministry of National Security RSCNPF Explorers Group Annual Summer Youth Camp that ran from July 29 to August 04. More than 400 children between the ages of 05 and 18 years attended the camp which falls under the ministry’s crime prevention and social intervention programmes.

Some of the newer topics included in the studies at the training school are psychology; human trafficking, and human smuggling, which regional officials stress is becoming more prominent in the Caribbean.

Inspector Dickenson added: “We have a new FATS system. [A] FATS system is a firearms training simulator where we teach persons [about the] use of force levels.”

This will help the officers decide when to use their firearm and when not to, depending on the circumstances.

The use of technology also extends in the classroom to provide regional expertise to the students.

“We also have a CBSI connect, which is a Caribbean Basin Security Initiative system where we link to all the police training academies throughout the region so when they are teaching specific classes, we can sit in our classroom and view those classes,” Inspector Dickenson said. He added that this is particularly helpful as it exposes trainees to additional enhanced courses.

The Commandant of the Police Training Complex said he was looking forward to Course 42 successfully completing their training in December 2018 and welcoming a new class shortly after.