The Barbados Police Service (BPS) is losing officers at a time when it continues to be challenged to find enough recruits to join its ranks.
Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce conceded that this decrease in strength is made no better by the service’s inability to get close to its 1500-strong target.
“Speaking of scarce resources, the organisation continues to be negatively impacted by its inability to satisfy existing recruiting needs. It must be noted that the underlying issue is not attributable to low levels of interest in the organisation, but to the continued challenge by some of the applicants to satisfy our recruiting criteria,” Boyce explained.
Reporting to the Annual Grand Conference of the service on Wednesday at District ‘A’ Police Station, Station Hill, St Michael, Boyce disclosed that numbers in the organisation fell in 2022.
“The strength of the organisation continues to decrease as time goes on. The establishment of the police service is 1,530. In 2022, the number of enlisted officers was 1,215, while in 2021 the figure stood at 1,234. This is a two per cent decrease in enlisted officers,” the police chief announced.
“However, on the positive side, 48 special constables added strength to the organisation, along with the support of 325 civilian staff members,” the top cop added.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Dale Marshall also touched on the issue in his address to the conference saying the recruitment drive was a top priority for the Commissioner.
Marshall reminded Boyce of government’s request that he boosts his efforts to make the organisation more appealing as a career choice.
“You have been asked to redouble your efforts and adopt approaches that attract young men and women. We recognise that there have been some improvements in recent times, and that currently some young police officers are in their initial training,” the Attorney General pointed out.
“This recruitment drive, sir, must be continuous as the service is in fact still short of the levels of its establishment. And you know sir, that you promised the prime minister that you will reach the full complement of 1,500 in 18 months. And the commissioner says he keeps his promises,” Marshall said.
Marshall, who was joined at the conference by Minister of State in the AG’s Office with responsibility for Crime Prevention Corey Lane, said government is also looking at ways to improve police terms and conditions and their pay within the constraints of the budget challenges.
The AG also drew attention to meetings he has held with president of the Police Association of Barbados Mervyn Grace regarding the large number of acting appointments within the service.
“We haven’t quite covered the distance yet, but if my numbers are correct, your recent set of appointments, we had 25 persons appointed to inspector, station sergeants 41, and sergeants 19,” he noted.
Marshall also disclosed that after speaking with the chairman of the Protective Services Commission (PSC) on Tuesday, he has been assured that by the third quarter of this year, there will be an even bigger dent in the number of officers who are currently acting.
Regarding the crime statistics Marshall said “The reports of crime were fewer than 6,000 for the calendar year 2022 and as the crime classification showed, major crimes accounted for 26 per cent of all crime reported,” he pointed out.
“The overall recorded crimes for 2022 stood at 5,803. This represented an eight per cent increase over the 2021 figure. That figure was 5,392,” he disclosed.
“An area of especially great concern is firearm-enabled crimes. Access to firearms by our young men led to a number of targeted homicides. The homicide rate moved from 11 per 100,000 in 2021, to 15 per 100,000 in 2022,” Marshall revealed.
However, he quickly explained that this is not a Barbados problem, but one that is region-wide.
“Exactly what we are seeing here is replicated in every single island in the Caribbean. Now I don’t say this to say that we are not as bad as some place else or we are better than some place else. But if everybody has the same phenomenon occurring at the same time, then we would be foolish to think that our efforts and our attention have to be purely local,” the AG added.
Marshall said that in April, CARICOM leaders will discuss Violence as a Public Health Issue, when they meet at a special symposium on crime and violence.
“We recognise that we have this challenge in common,” he added.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
