BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) congratulated Commissioner of Police Celvin G. Walwyn on a successful year of service to the Force and to the Federation.
C. G. Walwyn recently celebrated one year as Commissioner of Police – a year in which he had promised to uphold the law and crack down on crime when he was took over.
Although there are mixed views by the public on his performance since his take-over as Commissioner, the RSCNPF stands behind him, deeming his first year in the field as leader a success.
In a discussion held at the Police Training School yesterday (Sept. 5) Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime, Ian Queeley, paused to congratulate the Top Cop on a job well done.
"On my behalf and that of the staff of the Criminal Investigations Department...We would like to wish the Commissioner well and congratulate him on one year's performance. I think that he has done a commendable job within the time span that he has been here."
ACP Queeley said that there are a number of initiatives that the Commissioner has implemented which has benefited the organisation and that there is no reason for anyone to doubt that the network that he is a part of has contributed significantly in terms of resources, capacity building and the amount of training to which the officers have been exposed.
"It is incumbent upon us to therefore leverage upon those opportunities that have been created, as we advance the organisation moving forward," he said.
He went on to state that policing now differs from years ago, and that the use of technology and other resources are required to assist the RSCNPF in being more effective and efficient in the daily functioning of their duties.
"The Commissioner is big on technology. I wish to say that the one year past has been a fruitful and productive one. From my side of the table there is a marked reduction in the number of homicides and that is something all of us ought to be proud of. It cannot be nice sitting in any forum and hearing the amount of homicides that are recorded on an annual basis for our small country."
The ACP enunciated that some of the initiatives that were implemented by the Commissioner were geared at reducing homicides and have been successful in doing so "and for that we are grateful because the bigger picture here is Country Above Self and all of us should therefore support the initiatives because they are good initiatives and at the end of the day St. Kitts and Nevis belongs to all of us. Commissioner I want to thank you for the leadership you have provided thus far and we look forward to working closer together in the future".
Adding to ACP Queeley's remarks, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Stafford Liburd also extended congratulations to Commissioner Walwyn, stating that his year of service has made a difference in the Federation with regards to crime.
He said that the Commissioner is very passionate about crime, in particular violent crime, and that he has set a record in that once a violent crime has taken place, he needs to know quickly.
"I believe that this is good leadership; I believe that your involvement with the serious crime. murder in particular, it is a concern for you and I believe that you can look back and feel satisfied that you have given a great deal of service to the organisation and the Federation on a whole for the past year," the Deputy CoP said.
He noted a number of things that CoP Walwyn could be proud of including the formation of the Delta Squad and having such a squad in both islands, the energy he [Walwyn] has pumped into the Criminal Investigations Department, as well as the encouragement of the members of the RSCNPF to become more technically-oriented.
"I believe overall that we can smile and we can look back and say that it has been a successful year. Let us hope that we can certainly go forward with another successful year and we can say that our statistics look even better," he said.
Commissioner Walwyn, in accepting the congratulatory remarks thanked the RSCNPF for standing by his side and giving him the support needed to be a great leader.
He thanked the Federation for trusting in the Police Force to serve and protect, and he also thanked the St. Christopher and Nevis Defence Force for their assistance in helping to curb crime.
"We are not looking at the numbers [statistics], we are looking at the reality. You can see the difference here in the Federation; you can feel the difference here in the Federation, and it [difference] is because the people now feel that they can speak to the police and the police will do something. And we want to thank the public and to encourage them to continue lending us their support as we try to make a difference in the reduction of crime here in the Federation," the CoP said.
C. G. Walwyn was officially sworn in as the head of RSCNPF on September 1, 2011, having succeeded Austin Williams as Commissioner.
