By Lindsay Thompson
NASSAU, Bahamas (BIS): In his first speaking engagement since being elected May 2, Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on Thursday challenged regional law enforcement officers to combine efforts to preserve the economic future of the Caribbean and visitors to these shores.
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| Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham addressing the opening session of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police 22nd Annual General Meeting and Conference. (BIS Photo: Patrick Hanna) |
Ingraham officially opened the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) 22nd Annual General Meeting and Conference at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, being held May 23-29.
The event is being held under the theme: “Law enforcement partnerships: Imperatives from success”, which Ingraham said is appropriate as the region is faced with high-tech criminal activities.
The ACCP was formed on August 20, 1987 in Castries, St Lucia, by a resolution passed by 13 members. Amongst its objectives are regional cooperation in the suppression of criminal activities in areas such as narcotics, terrorism and organised crime; exchange of information in criminal investigations; and effective management of law enforcement agencies.
In 2000, the organisation re-defined its mission and objectives to be more relevant to its current goals. The mission of the ACCP is “to be the principal organisation for promoting and facilitating proactive measures to prevent crime and improve police community relations.”
Ingraham noted that crime and the fear of crime continues to dominate too much of the lives of Caribbean people and said it is right to focused on all aspects of crime in all its elements.
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| Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham greets Joseph Carter, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police at the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police 22nd Annual General Meeting and Conference. At left is Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. (BIS Photo: Patrick Hanna) |
“All of you are faced with the fact that the Caribbean region is characterised by far clung, Small Island States with relatively small populations and limited financial resources,” the Prime Minister said. “This alone presents a special challenge for law enforcement; a fact forcefully brought home to us in The Bahamas – an archipelago.”
He noted that crimes that impact the Caribbean span the gamut from nuisance to serious property crime, from domestic violence to murder, drug and gun smuggling, illicit traffic of human cargo, white collar crime associated with smuggling operations to money laundering and various other forms of fraud in the financial services sector; and kidnapping.
“The proliferation of criminal enterprises dealing in illicit drugs, human smuggling and money laundering commonly extends across national boundaries creating an ever greater dilemma for small police forces in our region,” the Prime Minister said.
“These criminal groups are difficult to deal with because they are well funded and technologically sophisticated,” he said. “Further, they are unencumbered by the principles, values and standards that dictate the behaviour of national law enforcement agencies. And, they have easy access to the most modern means of transportation and to technologies that help them conceal both their crime and the profits derived thereafter.”
The Prime Minister noted that the Caribbean has come to recognised the necessity of collaboration and cooperation to respond to the challenges.
“Indeed, it is simply sensible that we combine our human and financial capital so as to maximise returns from national and regional investment in anti-criminal programmes,” he said.
The Prime Minister said history would show that regional cooperation heightened during the 1980s when it became clear that no one country could cope with the illicit drug trade.
“But beyond drug interdiction cooperation, our police agencies have for quite some time now cooperated in training, intelligence sharing, exchange programmes and in forensic services,” he said. “Such cooperation must not only continue in the years ahead, but must also be built upon and expanded.”
Another threat cited by the Prime Minister was the 2001 terrorists attacks on the United States, which brought the horrors of international terrorism “virtually to our doors” of Caribbean nations.
He told the Commissioners of Police that they are positioned to shape and form strategic policing plans that cultivate intelligence and assist in the arrest of trans-border criminals and in the dismantling of their criminal organisations.
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