AG outlines police reforms, Opposition Leader slams broken promises

Barbados is set to overhaul its policing landscape, granting special constables full membership and perks within The Barbados Police Service (TBPS), updating recruitment criteria, and giving soldiers powers of arrest, under sweeping legislative changes tabled in Parliament on Friday.

Forty-six special constables are to join the ranks of the police with the same pensions and benefits as regular officers, under amendments to the Police Act tabled and introduced by Attorney General Dale Marshall.

The changes would enshrine in law a policy already in place to treat special constables as public officers, rather than casual workers, thereby allowing them to receive pensions under the Pensions Act, Marshall said.

“These men and women work every single day, right alongside regular constables, often doing the same duties,” he told the House. “It was important for us to make proper statutory provision for what we had already done by policy.”

The legislation also delivers on a pledge announced in the March budget, giving special constables with at least three years’ service the right to transition into the police service as constables. Of the 47 eligible, 46 have agreed to make the move.

The Bill also updates recruitment rules by removing the height requirement and allowing the commissioner of police to enlist people with specialist skills even if they do not meet the usual physical or academic criteria, provided they are of good character.

Policing, according to Marshall, now demands expertise in areas such as money laundering and financial investigations.

“We have individuals across this nation who may have specialised skills but, for one reason or another, may not be able to satisfy the physical requirements . . . . We think the time has come for this novel approach,” he said.

Another major change to the Bill gives members of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) deployed jointly with the police the same powers of arrest, privileges, and immunities as police officers on duty.

“They have always done a fine job supporting the work of the police,” Marshall said, noting that the gap in the law meant they previously had no greater arrest powers than an ordinary citizen.

The Bill also updates outdated language in the Police Act, replacing the former “Police Force” with “Police Service” in line with the change in name made when Barbados became a republic.

In another development, the attorney general sought to assure lawmakers that the country’s long-shuttered forensic laboratories are expected to be fully operational by the end of September.

Marshall noted that the reopening will mark the first time in years that all facilities are functioning—an advance he said is critical to the island’s crime-fighting capacity.

“Our forensic laboratories will be up and running before the end of September. This comes after not being functional for almost 15 years,” he said, adding that the facilities were operational when his party last left office but later “seemed to crash”, forcing authorities to rely on limited capacity and, in some cases, overseas assistance.

Marshall stressed that the upgrade will give The Barbados Police Service better tools than at any time in its history, particularly in areas such as forensic analysis, evidence processing, and case preparation.

He acknowledged the recent spate of homicides but maintained the country “is still a safe place” and praised the police service for the work they have been doing.

However, the government faced criticism over alleged broken promises to TBPS senior constables, with Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne claiming that delays in promotions have left many officers frustrated and demoralised.

During debate on the Interception of Communications Bill, he charged that the administration had not treated officers with the fairness and respect they deserve.

“The government has not been kind to the police service; the government has not been fair to the police service,” he declared.

Thorne noted that while the government had lauded itself for inducting special constables, it had failed to follow through on commitments made to long-serving members of the force.

He said: “When we hear self-congratulation about inducting special constables in the police service, I confess that one of the expectations I had today was that I was coming here to hear government applaud itself in relation to the senior constables. Men who have served for 20, 30 and 40 years and are still constables; men who received the promise since March last year from this compassionate government that a man who served 20 or 30 or 40 years and 20 at least in the police service without promotion that he would have been promoted and that that promotion and consequent increase in salary would have taken place since last year, March 2024.”

He stressed that the delay in fulfilling this pledge had left many officers frustrated.

“This is August 2025, and it has not happened . . . so that if anyone has hobbled the police service, it is the government. There are several police officers in this country, in this service, who are in a state of discontent. Not discontent with the people of Barbados, but discontent with the government.” 

(SM/SB)