BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - COMMITTED to the proactive leg of its Six-Point Plan to fight crime, the High Command of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force today (Aug. 18) joined with organisers of Operation Future’s Summer Camp to serve lunch to the participants.
Acting Commissioner of Police Stafford Liburd, accompanied Assistant Commissioners Ian Queeley and Vaughan Henderson and Inspector Carl Caines, stood before the 60-plus school aged children, plated and distributed the food and beverages that were provided for their consumption.
The senior officers moved through the aisles of the children’s seating area placing the plates of pizza and glasses of beverages at the tables, much to the pleasure of the children.
Operation Future Founder Constable Lauston Percival told the media that the exercise is part of the organisation’s community-bonding thrust.
“Operation Future is now a part of the Police Force and we see this as community bonding. So we asked the officer to come and share lunch for the children and just interact with them for a little bit…”
He explained that from his observation the children were pleased with the gesture and noted that he would continue to encourage this sort of interaction between them and police officers.
Assistant Commissioner Queeley also spoke with the media after his bout of service and explained that the initiative is part of the proactive prong of the Police Force’s Six-Point Plan.
“Fighting crime starts at a very tender age and we want to instill the virtues and values in the children at a very tender age. At the opening, when I spoke, more than 50 percent of the persons indicated that they would like to be part of the crime-fighting solution…
“And so our (purpose) was to basically interact with them on a different level; serve them and get them more interested in law enforcement. And so you would have seen by their reaction how appreciative they were and we are truly thankful for that.”
SKNVibes spoke briefly to a number of the camp participants who indicated that they were somewhat surprised to learn that the senior officers would take time out of their busy scheduled to serve them lunch. They said they are looking forward to similar activities in the future.
Queeley pledged the Police Force’s continued support of the Operation Future initiative.
“We are looking forward to continuing to support Officer Percival as he takes the mantle of Operation Future forward.”
