Basseterre, St. Kitts – DESPITE starting the course with some measure of scepticism and apprehension, participants of the recently concluded Management and Leadership Workshop exuded a confidence that they could become more efficient in their crime fighting initiatives.
The course, which was held at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Headquarters from Monday (Feb. 16) to Friday (Feb. 20), targeted 26 middle managers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, St. Kitts Nevis Defence Force, St. Kitts Nevis Fire and Rescue Services and Her Majesty’s Prison.
The course had several goals, chief of which was equipping middle managers “to provide improved quality of service to the citizens of St. Kitts and to become more efficient in dealing with all elements of criminal activity in the Federation”.
Middle managers of the security organisations were schooled in topics not limited to: Team Management Principles, Conflict Management, Management vs Leadership, Community Based Policing Models and Leadership Approaches.
Force Personnel Officer Wendell Wattley spoke at the closing ceremony and said that from his interaction with the offices, he found that they were pleased with the quality of delivery and content of the course.
“I did challenge you to really interact with each other, share your experiences and integrate what the course facilitator would bring to the training to ensure that you get maximum benefit from this particular training. Certainly, I had the opportunity to interact with persons who were attending this particular course and they were extremely pleased with, not just the quality of delivery but also the quality of the content and also the relevance of this course to policing and also management and planning.”
Course facilitator and former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Paul Jolicoeur thanked the participants for their “hard work and dedication” and noted that he was impressed by the seriousness of the officers in wanting to succeed.
He admonished them to review “your material that we’ve covered during this week...Re-energise yourselves as to the promises you gave yourselves by the end of this course. Don’t be afraid to take risks. If nothing else that we’ve talked [about] this week, is that leaders do that”.
The course participants were congratulated on their successful completion and were reminded by Commissioner of Police Austin Williams to continue to be “professional and diligent”.
All of the participants were issued certificates of successful completion and tokens of appreciation were bestowed upon the facilitator by two of the officers.
The course is among a number of others funded by the Canadian-Caribbean Cooperation Fund.
