Participants of workshop.
A Police Recruit Training Manual is being developed so that everyone who becomes a police officer within the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) benefit from the same training and are equally qualified.
This standardisation process is being undertaken by the Regional Security System (RSS) in close collaboration with OECS governments and police forces.
The initiative comes as part of efforts to promote and further free movement within the region.
The manual is being molded based on an RSS recruit training syllabus which has already been formulated.
The RSS Training Institute on Monday began a two-week manual development activity/workshop at the Palm Haven Hotel at Rodney Bay.
A number of police training officers and other stakeholders from RSS members states were in attendance.
Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) Errol Alexander said at the workshop opening ceremony, that the development is important for St. Lucia and the sub grouping.
“Recruits training is significant and it the first stage of producing the next law enforcement agency of the future. All our police forces require individuals with the quality and skills to deliver a professional police service,” he said while urging instructors to utilize the manual at all times, once it is completed.
“This is a critical move for everybody,” he added.
Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Osbert Regis who also addressed the opening ceremony, said the standardisation will bring about unity and in turn will result in more efficient policing in the region.
“There is strength through unity… For us, it is the most important component of our existence within the sub region but we cannot be strong if we do not work together and we cannot work efficiently together if we have not trained together,” he said.
Regis also spoke on the importance of bringing a “dynamic” training manual which he said ought to be in line with technological advancements.
“It cannot afford to be stale. It cannot afford to be out of date. It cannot afford to be not relevant to our evolving societies. It makes no sense if the training is relevant today and not two three years [later], because our society continues to evolve so our training needs to be in a position to keep pace with that evolution,” he said.
“I would like to propose that technology be a great part of the tool that a police officer or law enforcement officer must have,” he added.
He opined that it makes no sense a police officer is able to catch a robber on the street, but is unable to apprehend a cyber criminal, who can wreak havoc on local business from the comfort of his home.
Regis further pointed out that it is necessary for learning to be continuous within police force and not just a one-time thing.
The new RSS Institute training manual was deemed appropriate following a needs assessment report which was conducted among its member states in 2009/2010. That report, according to officials, pointed to a number of “deficiencies” in the current recruitment processes of various RSS countries. Many of these shortcomings are expected to be addressed in the new manual, officials said.
Director of Training at RSS Yvonne Alexander further informed that the assessment revealed a need for a shared and comprehensive regional training programme for the police forces, and a “chronic lack of capacity to meet the diverse challenges presented by well-organised international crime and drug rings.”
She also pointed out that the Needs Assessment report had concluded that training standards vary significantly among the sub region, “making it very challenging for the police forces to work as a consolidated unit which is required by the RSS Treaty.”
“The report posited that the establishment of a common training program with appropriate policy support, and standards, would present an unparalleled opportunity to enhance the credibility of law enforcement throughout the RSS states,” she said.
Among its long-term goals, the RSS Training Institute hopes to increase the capacity of policing in the region, and build on the synergy and communication between the forces and consistence in performance.