Published 17 June 2019
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
TABERNACLE POLICE STATION PARTNERS WITH MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 17, 2019 (RSCNPF): Officers from the Tabernacle Police Station in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development hosted over 75 children at the Tabernacle Police Station for a movie night in honor of Family Month on June 14, 2019.
The event was spearheaded by Sergeant Simeon Liburd who welcomed the outreach from the Ministry. The event is just one of other community outreach activities that will be held for the month of June and onwards.
The children and their families enjoyed movies, food and various games. They also had a chance to win prizes.
Divisional Commander for District B, Superintendent Travis Rogers, said that this initiative is part and parcel of the force’s new direction with community policing.
“We are trying to reach out to the community, not just the adults but also the children so we can capture them before they go astray. We thought it best to bring the children around the Police so they can understand what the Police job is all about and what it entails,” he said.
Superintendent Rogers further explained that the Police do these kind of activities to build relationships and partnerships with the community because the Police Force needs the community just as much as the community needs them.
He said that since the High Command rolled out its new community policing initiative, they have been targeting all age groups and communities in a more structured manner.
“We are collecting names, telephone numbers and getting to know their issues. We then will go and try to resolve these issues,” stated the Superintendent.
Community Development Officer, Carolyn French said that the department’s outreach to the station was well received and the Police jumped at the chance to spearhead the activity.
“This is something that we usually do yearly in the month of June for Family Month. This year, we decided to partner with the school and the Police to get the activities in Tabernacle off the ground. The police were very willing to partner with us and expressed interest in other partnerships for our other community outreach programs,” she said.
She explained that the event was held to get the children to interact with the Police Officers so that they can see that they are approachable. She said that it is important for them to know that the Police are persons they can reach out to in the community if they have problems or need assistance.
“The interaction and planning went smoothly and I can say that a relationship was formed and we are looking forward to future partnerships with the police on other projects,” she said.
