BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS part of their community policing drive, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force opened the doors of its Mobile Command Centre to students of the Washington Archibald High and the Beach Allen Primary Schools today (Apr. 28), increasing the visibility of the police and exposing the students to some of the functions of the piece of equipment.
The “police station on wheels” was parked on the piece of land between both schools, and class-by-class the students were brought to the area, informed of the purpose of the centre and given a brief tour which was conducted by Sergeant Sampson and Press and Public Relations Officer Inspector Lyndon David.
David told the media that one of the foremost purposes of the exercise was to alert the students and staff to the fact that their safety is part of the police’s agenda.
“At this unit we can take reports; we do a number of things ordinary police do at this command unit. We would be using it to deter crime and to give reassurance. I know it would have been told to you that we would place it in hot spots. One would wonder why at this location today…Well, we know that there are schools that have many concerns and we want to give the schools the reassurance that they are not excluded from our plans…
“We know that they may have different concerns, whether people wandering on their compound breaking whatever piece of legislation. And we just want them to know that in case of an incident that they think that the police should be involved, they can come here rather than go down to the station and the police can use this unit and attend to that incident.”
As the students approached the mobile unit, they observed a series of orange cones positioned around it. It was explained to them that whenever this outer perimeter is observed, it should not be breached by civilians or it would lead to them being engaged by a police officer.
On the inside of the unit, the students were briefed on its fittings, which include flat-screen monitors, a telephone system and a command room.
The children, who were obviously fascinated with the unit and its function, threw several related questions at the officers and also expressed their concerns and queries about other matters. Inspector David promised that he would investigate the concerns and ably addressed the other questions of the inquisitive minds.
The Mobile Command Centre was acquired as a result of funding from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Safety and Security Improvement Programme late last year.
