U.S.V.I. - Police Commissioner James H. McCall is pleased to announce that the long awaited Experienced Law Enforcement Officers (ELEO) program has begun in the Virgin Islands. Eight police officers from as far away as Hawaii and as close to home as Charlotte Amalie arrived on St. Croix this week and attended an orientation Monday, March 9 at the St. Croix Police Training Academy.

The ELEO’s have a range of experience from 3 years to 27 years in law enforcement. Several have their roots on various islands. One officer, who recently worked in the New York and Georgia police force, has parents who were born in Jamaica, W.I. Another was born on Barbados and worked with the Mississippi police force. The officer who is a native Hawaiian just wanted to do something different and the officer from Chicago was really glad to get out of the cold.  Still another worked a Sherriff and is a fourth generation police officer who returned to St. Croix to carry on the legacy of his St. Croix forefathers. Two hail from St. Thomas, and worked as a corrections office and a police officer stateside, said they are just glad to be back in the VI.

The officer who worked on the New Jersey police force visited the VI several times in the past and decided to move here when he saw an enforcement officer having lunch with his family on the beach. “What a great life that must be,” he said. Fast forward a few years later and here he is in the ELEO program and his family has relocated to the VI.

The officers passed pre-screening evaluations prior to arriving in the VI. This included a background check and an in-person board evaluation by the Chiefs of Police, the Internal Affairs Director and other VI police personnel held in Atlanta in January. They also had to pass a physiological exam and a polygraph test.

The officer’s on-island training consists of 270 hours of instruction at the VIPD Training Academy. Included in the curriculum is Cultural Diversity Training, Defensive Driving, Ethics, Sexual Harassment, Use of Force Policy, VI Code, Constitutional Law, Domestic Violence and Report writing, among other subjects.

The officers will not be photographed or individually interviewed, Commissioner McCall said because the officers have not received their assignments yet. These experienced officers can be used in undercover operations, McCall said. Once the officers have completed their training they will be assigned to units in both districts.