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50% of RVIPF went in isolation after last month’s COVID spike

Officers of the Armed Response Unit in the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force.

The spike in positive COVID-19 cases in the territory last month forced the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) to isolate approximately 50 percent of its personnel after 16 officers tested positive for the virus.

This is according to Commissioner of Police, Michael Matthews who said in a recent interview with 284 Media that reorganising the RVIPF’s frontline was one of the challenges experienced during the spike.

“The minute you talk about 16 cases against 240 odd police officers; it doesn’t perhaps seem a lot. But the first thing you have to do with every single case is work out who they were working with, and who they’ve been in contact with in terms of public and work colleagues,” the Commissioner stated.

“That tracking and tracing exercise led by the Ministry of Health meant that a lot more than 16 officers had to be withdrawn from the frontline very quickly and isolated for the safety of the force and for the safety of the community,” he added.

Isolation was necessary for worse-case scenario

The top cop said the decision to isolate half of the force was to protect them from contracting the virus and allow for the effective continuation of policing across the territory.

“We split our shifts in half and just put half the patrols out that we would normally want to. The idea being, of course, that if it had got worse, then we had at least fifty percent of our available personnel kept in quarantine isolated locations that could be brought back in and continue policing on behalf of the public,” Matthews explained.

He added: “The net effect, of course, is that we still have to provide our security of the border, our marine policing, our traffic policing, our crime investigations and normal response policing on the 911 and 311 and so the list goes on.”

Matthews, therefore, thanked his officers for their efforts not only during the COVID spike but over the last few months.

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7 Comments

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  1. lol says:

    its a must!!!!

    if they using government time to go by woman house lol & transporting their friends by friends during the lockdown.

    Like 11
    Dislike 9
    • one eye says:

      AGREE with you 110% no wonder their vehicles always malfunctioning , i saw it with my two eyes and more actions was being done. these police was doing more than the people who disobey the curfew rules .

  2. Tola says:

    They breaking the laws them police

    Like 4
    Dislike 6
  3. Inspector Gadget says:

    Let me rephrase for the retiring commissioner,

    “We split our shifts in half and just put half the crooks out that we would normally want to. The idea being, of course, that if it had got worse, then we had at least fifty percent of the crooked officers available personnel kept in quarantine isolated locations that could be brought back in to terrorize the young women and men especially on behalf of her majesty the queen,” the clown explained.

    Like 4
    Dislike 3
  4. T says:

    @lol so true,

  5. Doh says:

    Funny…

    Were these numbers reported? Never saw that spike mentioned.

    Carry on

    Like 1
    Dislike 2
  6. police says:

    why all you dont keep of the police back, all them criminal all you have in all you families, selling drugs and so forth, all you not talking about that, isnt that breaking the law too, they bring inn the dirty money so its ok for you all, but all you always have some negative to say about the police, well guess what, when all you mouth tired all you will be silence, this is a criminal society that supports criminal activities, instead of criticizing if you see something say something, not these petty foolishness about police giving people ride, you guys know who the criminals are and who doing these crimes, be a good citizen for a change.

    Like 3
    Dislike 1

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