‘With the limited resources available to us, we are trying’- RVIPF
He was at the time speaking at a meeting between police and residents of the First District community at West End Community Centre on May 11, 2023.
“As a result, we are seeing, on certain nights or certain days there are no officers patrolling the West End District; however, we have an officer stationed at the West End Police Station, from Monday to Friday…,” the Superintendent said.
In an effort to curb the effects, Robinson noted that the officer is there to take reports and pass them on to the Inspector at Road Town.
He established that the idea behind the patrol units is for all officers to receive the same briefing and have a better understanding of the situation within the Territory, hence the force is working on the centralisation of policing resources.
“Because, you’re having officers at every station. They’re receiving different briefing. So the station in West End, they receive a different briefing to the station in Road Town and to the East End. So, centralise all the policing resources and you brief them accordingly, so they have the same information when they’re going out to do their tasks,” he said.
Persons at the meeting among police and residents of the First District community at West End Community Centre on May 11, 2023.
'Back to the drawing board'
As such, he noted that the RVIPF is also working on restructuring community policing, as he re-emphasised the lack of resources.
“Unfortunately, resources issue, because at the same time of the restructuring we also had the CoI [Commission of Inquiry] and, according to the CoI, we needed to establish a pro-policing team which also take up a number of resources…so it further deplete the amount of officers available…
“You would be aware that lately, we have seen an increase in the serious crime within the Territory. So, based on that we also went back to the drawing board and we created a special Task Force which is temporary. This team now is responsible for night-time patrol of the Territory…and they are supposed to visit East End, West End, Road Town and make sure that the Territory is safe. Since the implementation of that unit, we have seen a decrease in serious crimes…Yes it may seem like we’re not doing enough but with the limited resources that are available to us we are trying,” Superintendent Robinson said.
Traffic violations were another major issue highlighted and discussed, including unlicenced underage cyclists operating scooters, among others.
