For the third time in 11 years, the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force is launching a community policing programme.
On Monday, then-acting police commissioner Jacqueline Vanterpool announced the “official relaunch” of a Community Police Unit focused on working directly with residents in the neighbourhoods where they live and work.
A similar initiative was launched in early 2014 under then-police commissioner David Morris, but it fell apart after Hurricane Irma.
In June 2021, it was relaunched under then-commissioner Mark Collins, but it still didn’t stick, police said this week.
“Despite its historical success, community policing experienced a decline in momentum in recent years,” the police stated in a Tuesday press release. “Acting Commissioner Vanterpool noted that rebuilding public trust and strengthening relationships with residents requires a deliberate return to genuine citizen-centred engagement.”
Policing strategy
She added that community policing has been “formally embedded” in the force’s strategic priorities since 2012.
As part of efforts to return to those roots, she said, the force launched a six-week training programme on Aug. 11 delivered by the company Officium Training Limited of Trinidad and Tobago.
“A total of 112 officers were trained, including 22 officers who successfully completed the train-the-trainer component,” the press release stated. “These trainers are now fully equipped to support the CPU’s mandate and help lead the effort to regain the public’s trust and confidence.”
The “core members” of the Community Policing Unit — which is expected to take up duties next Monday — are acting Inspector Sherryann Lavia-Lennon, Sergeant Sean McCall and police constables Zamfir Adams, Reba Rogers, Natoya Marks, Dannaiff Charles, Mandel Jimmy, Larry Laroque and Kejahana Stephens.
Ms. Vanterpool emphasised that supporting the CPU is a collective responsibility shared across the organisation.
“Every officer, regardless of assignment, has a role to play,” she stated. “Our success depends on teamwork, communication, professionalism and empathy. Community policing is not merely a unit: It is a philosophy.”
British Caribbean News
