Law enforcers will soon be subjected to vetting
The government is taking steps to introduce a vetting regime in the territory that would see officers of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), Immigration Department, His Majesty’s Prison Services and His Majesty’s Customs being assessed against professional ethics and standards.
The introduction of a vetting regime was one of the recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry (COI), which also ordered that the exercise should determine if officers are failing to disclose relevant information, which may deem them unsuitable.
The COI also said the vetting process should determine whether there is the existence of a second job or a conflict of interest, which could compromise the officers’ ability to fulfil their role.
According to documents that show recent Cabinet decisions, the BVI will get help from the UK’s International Police Assistance Service. That UK agency will work in partnership with the Deputy Governor’s Office and central government, under the direction of the governor, to establish the vetting process.
The Cabinet documents also show that the governor asked for amendments to be made to the relevant legislation to ensure BVI’s vetting regime has a sound legal footing to enable the vetting process to begin.
Once the legal amendments are made, the Vetting Policy and Approach will be tabled in the House of Assembly.
The COI found that there were instances of abuse by many public officials in the BVI and recommended sweeping legislative changes to facilitate accountability and integrity among public servants.
The government is moving swiftly to implement the recommendations but some elected leaders as well as sections of the public service, have indicated that some of the measures may negatively affect public officials and put their family members in danger.
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They was supposed to BEEN being subjected to vetting! So RVIPF dnt conduct background checks on persons coming or local that apply to be officers????? That explains a whole lot!
This is a joke? We are still in March, April fool’s day is weeks away. They never used to do this?
What the Police need is a Commissioner who will make them enforce all of the laws, all of the time. How can you expect to have a law-abiding population when generation after generation watch their family, friends, etc., ignore the laws with impunity. When the police ignore the traffic laws and ignore offenders of them why would we obay any laws. Trying to navigate any of the main roads when most of them are littered with illegally parked vehicles is frustrating, and dangerous given emergency vehicles would have the same issues.
Give us a Commissioner who will do the job properly!!
Been saying this for so long! Lost count how many times I see a police vehicle parked in front of a no parking sign while the officers run personal errands. Or police officers driving to work in a vehicle with no working lights. Or police officers walking right passed a vehicle parked illegally. Or how many times I see a police vehicle waiting at a red light and some fool comes racing through and the police vehicle just sit there like it didn’t see nuttin. Lets be honest though, this is a problem in the UK as well: police officers living outside of the law.
Soon?????? lololololol
What? Are you saying that there was no vetting process for these positions. That’s why there are so many xxxxx on the police force.
Another reason for us to work to do the implementation
It’s been obvious for some time that senior people in HM Customs were principals in firms designed to shepherd permits and requests through Customs…
If that isn’t conflict of interest, what is?
This place is a real joke. No vetting yet the police ask for help and lawyers are murdered stores robbed in the day.
At some point we have to step up or let the public defend themselves. The evil get a gun and suddenly think they are invincible.
All public officers should be vetted, including accounting, HR, etc. There are persons performing these accounting and HR functions and are not fit or suitably qualified. Many lack an undergraduate degree and commonsense (which is necessary for the global standards and the world) and are only position because of allege nepotism and cronyism.
This is my thoughts exactly, I had to consent to background checks for my corporate job and LAW ENFORCEMENT arent vetted…..The BVI is truly a JOKE! and they wanna sit up and talk about independence, ragging on long standing expatriates, worried about the UK and who will come in and who is “racist” in their eyes, this imaginary agenda, look down on hard working locals and non alike, we can barely live day to day with the cost of living…. yet the same ppl appointed to “Protect and Serve” have deeper secrets and get to walk around with their chest high on their little power trips because they have a uniform and a badge!!!! its shameful, a complete disgrace….at this point, let the UK come. this is utterly shameful and ridiculous.
Every problem will be solved by the UK? This is a huge problem, but the Governor is in charge of the Police Force and policing in this Territory. Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I remember a Governor demanded and received $2 million extra for the Police Force one year not too long ago. That’s not a problem in my mind, if they were taking the best of the lot and sending them overseas to the FBI or Scotland Yard for training as a first step. The proper installation and use of these cameras that we are paying for to gather crime solving evidence. We have but three roads in the BVI in the capital. If the Police can’t figure out how to set up cameras to keep us safe or at least to gather pertinent information using cameras, well, what to do? We are in trouble.
Vetting persons who apply to be police officers, immigration and customs officers? The fact that that is not the norm is sad indeed. A full report of their activities going back 10 to 20 years before should be done and not just where they are from, but the entire Caribbean, US, Canada and UK. There has been rumours for years that some members of the Force were gang bangers before their nice cushy job on the Force here in the BVI. We have to do a better job at managing things around here.
BTW, the DPP’s Office needs help as well. Where is the UK’s help in this? UK can stay where they are. Might be me, but they never built us a school or a youth center or a library which we are in need of. But they built us a huge prison, which speaks loud and clear to me. Thanks but no thanks. Better the devil we know.
“Professional ethics and standards” HA ! don’t exist in the BVI
Wait! Is this for real? A genuine case of putting the cart before the horse.
Need I say more?
It’s no wonder then, that …….
Nuff said.
As in they not being vetted already? Another instance of how the BVI is not a real place.
Labour Department should be included on the list.