The United Kingdom Home Office will soon vet all Virgin Islands police officers, in part because the territory’s Police Service Commission is not yet up to the task, Governor Daniel Pruce announced last week in the wake of a scathing law-enforcement review.
The Royal VI Police Force will be the first agency to receive comprehensive vetting in keeping with 2022 Commission of Inquiry recommendations that also advised vetting immigration, customs and prison officers.
“There has been extensive discussion and intensive preparation for this,” Mr. Pruce said in an April 17 statement about the plan to vet police.
“In recent months, I have been in discussion with the Police Service Commission [PoSC] encouraging its engagement with the Home Office vetting team to get the process under way. The PoSC is not yet in the position to do so.”
He added that he is grateful to the PoSC for its “work on vetting to date,” and he promised to continue collaborating with the body.
Home Office
The Home Office is the UK government’s lead department for police and other areas including immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, counter-terrorism and fire.
To empower the agency to vet VI officers, Mr. Pruce said, he amended the territory’s 2013 Police Regulations.
“These [amendments] have now been Gazetted, and I have signed the agreement with the UK Home Office so that vetting can begin,” he said.
This agreement — which Mr. Pruce signed last week alongside acting Police Commissioner Jacqueline Vanterpool — was not provided to the public.
After a Tuesday morning request from the Beacon, however, the Governor’s Office said yesterday that it had asked the Home Office for permission to share it and was awaiting confirmation.
‘Standard process’
In his statement on April 17, the governor described the vetting as a “standard process” that will “protect and assist” police officers in doing their job.
He added that he hopes all police officers will be vetted by autumn.
“At that point, for the first time in its history, the Virgin Islands will have a fully vetted police force,” he said. “This will build trust within the force and between agencies working in partnership with the RVIPF. It will also improve public confidence in the RVIPF.”
The process, he added, represents a “significant milestone” in completing the COI recommendations.
Police perspective
On Tuesday, the police force welcomed the announcement.
“The RVIPF recognises that vetting is a critical step in building and maintaining public confidence and ensuring the highest standards of professionalism and integrity across the force,” the Police Information Office told the Beacon in a statement.
“We are committed to full transparency and accountability in our operations, and we support the efforts being made to implement a comprehensive vetting programme in line with the Commission of Inquiry recommendations.”
The statement added that the RVIPF will work closely with the Governor’s Office to carry out the process “thoroughly and efficiently, with minimal disruption to operational effectiveness.”
Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley declined to comment on the governor’s announcement, and Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn did not respond to a message about it.
Other vetting
A separate system is also in the works to vet immigration, customs and prison officers.
That process is to be guided by the Service Commissions (Amendment) Act, 2024, which received the governor’s assent on Oct. 10 after it was passed by the House of Assembly on Aug. 2.
On Dec. 17, the governor amended related regulations to allow for the outsourcing of this vetting process, among other measures.
Asked Tuesday for an update on vetting of non-police law enforcers, the Governor’s Office told the Beacon that the Public Service Commission is currently reviewing a vetting agreement for other agencies.
“We look forward to early progress,” the office added in a brief statement.
Top cop
Also by autumn, Mr. Pruce said, he is hoping to have a confirmed police commissioner in place.
Ms. Vanterpool has been acting in the position since last October, when then-commissioner Mark Collins’ contract ended.
On April 17, the governor announced the resumption of the hiring process for the commissioner position, which he previously suspended last October pending the publication of the second volume of the law enforcement review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Fire and Rescue Services.
That volume, which was published on April 8, was needed to help “accurately define the person specification needed” for the commissioner role, according to the governor.
“This has now taken place, and a new recruitment campaign is now live,” he said.
Experience needed
The candidate will need to have the “high level of police expertise and experience” the RVIPF needs, he explained.
“We need a police commissioner who can deliver transformational change in a complex organisation at a time when the challenges it faces are rapidly evolving,” he said.
“I am confident that the PoSC, deputy governor, the central [human resources] team, and I will be able to appoint a new commissioner who is well placed to meet this challenge successfully. I hope to have that person in position by autumn.”
British Caribbean News
