Excellent year for the men in Blue |30 December 2016

END-OF-YEAR  ISSUE

• Criminality further reduced, crime rate stabilised

When comparing statistics recorded by the police from January to November 2016 there has been a reduction of 31% in crime cases over the same period the previous year.

From January to November this year the police recorded 3,456 cases compared to 5,087 for the same period in 2015.

This reduction of 1,601 reactive cases represents a decrease of 31% with the lowest recorded being 276 in the month of February.

A reduction of 560 theft cases were recorded this year compared to last year’s 1,604 cases.

The percentage decrease in theft is 35% while that for house breaking and burglary cases is 37%.

During that same period, 913 house breaking and burglary cases were recorded with the lowest recorded being 20 also in the month of February.

Last year, there were 869 offence against person cases while in 2016 642 cases were recorded, or a decline of 26%.

However there has been a rise by 3,090 in pro-active cases with 19,153 police generated cases recorded for 2016 as compared to last year’s 12,243 cases.

This year the police was able to maintain the level of crime to below 100 cases per week and an average of below 400 cases were recorded per month compared to the average of previous years which exceeded 400.

Revised and improves strategies which led to the above mentioned results

Revamp in the police structure which improved command and control with the appointment of the new Commissioner of Police Reginald Elizabeth and restructuration of component heads and station commanders.

Compol Elizabeth, who has been serving the police for the past 43 years, was sworn in before President James Michel in June and in order for the new structure to function properly eight police officers were promoted – four to senior ranks and another four to middle management ranks.

To obtain maximum results, the police introduced the Central Cluster which combined the Traffic Unit, Central Station and the Communication Command Centre (CCC) under the leadership of an officer of senior ranks while each unit still had their commanding officer.

Grey areas and black spots where illegal activities were prone to take place such as unauthorised  alcohol consumption, prostitution, drug transactions and usage and people who are wanted in relation to crime cases were targeted and eradicated.

These areas were targeted by the stations and also in support of a crime combating team set up with the main objective of crime prevention while a tracking team established late last year managed to reduce the wanted persons list from over a hundred to below ten.

The stations also received support from a special Task Force which strived to maintain ten-minute response to cases.

There was also a higher detection rate this year as the police extended their detective capacity and training which were held locally and internationally.

Various other training were held such as the leadership courses for station commanders to provide them with necessary tools to better run their respective stations.

The setting up of a new Information Technology (IT) system improved their data collection which in turn allowed for  better processing of cases and case file management where every case reported received due attention.

The shift system was revised which resulted in more effective redistribution of human resources to stations and increased the morals and commitment of the officers.

The four shift system which was introduced in September created more productive officers with less working hours and more resting days as compared to the three shift system.

This system benefits the welfare of the officers as well as the police department as the officers come to work more energised and with a higher level of concentration. There was a boost in the professionalism of the officers as a more friendly approach was used towards the public.

The Baie Ste Anne and Grand Anse Praslin police stations were the first to adopt the shift system on September 1, followed by Central Station on November 1, Mont Fleuri on November 23, Anse Aux Pins on December 14, Beau Vallon on December 19, while Anse Royale will be introduced on January 3, 2017.

It is expected to be adopted in other stations progressively as the year 2017 unfolds.

Another milestone was reached in the Marine Police as a specialised boat and three officers were appointed to the unit on Praslin, and there was an expansion in the dog unit with various capacity building training led.

Twenty-three police officers were issued with driving licenses from the driving school located at the Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) which opened late 2015.  As the police department was experiencing a shortage of certified police drivers, civilians were needed to drive police cars.

Significant infrastructural development

• The construction of Anse Aux Pins and Praslin police stations commenced and will be completed early 2017;
• A new remand centre was constructed at Bois de Rose;
• Scientific Support and Crime Record Bureau (SS&CRB) was relocated to their new premises at Bois de Rose;
• The Communication, Command and Control Centre (CCC) was refurbished and modernized;
• A new Marine Police Sub Base was established at Roche Caiman.

Priorities for 2017

Since her appointment as the Minister for Home Affairs on November 1, 2016, Mitcy Larue, who succeeded Charles Bastienne, has met many police officers and visited a number of police stations and units.

Despite these accomplishments, she took stock and focused on issues and areas that still require our full attention and commitment.

“We want to see police officers who respect and uphold the constitution and are respected by the people, do not tolerate disloyalty and ill-discipline, enforce the law without fear or favour and demonstrate through their deeds, a firm commitment and accountability to ensure the implementation of our policies,” she said.

Minister Larue said the main focus must be the issue of smarter policing and the use of IT in fighting crime.

The first step in this regard is the harmonising of the information systems within the police. The realisation of this will address various issues, including the Crime Administration System.

“This system will eliminate problems such as missing case files and should also be able to contribute to an increased detection rate as well as improvements in our forensic laboratories,” she said.

The second priority is to engage more closely with the community at large in order to provide a better service.

“This will include ad hoc visits to members of the community, visits to victims of crime and regular feedback on reported criminal cases,” she said.

The third priority is Crime Intelligence in the police and improvements in the field of detective services.

“We need to build a stable environment within the crime intelligence community. There must be a strong link between crime intelligence and detective services and be focused on improving our conviction rate,” she said.

The fourth priority area requiring focus is that of training.

“While the remodelled basic training course and detective training courses is a step in the right direction, we still need to do more. We need to revise how and what is involved in training. Our training must also focus on human rights as well as the safety and security of the community. Training cannot just be about churning out numbers but must be ongoing and relevant,” she said.

The fifth priority is on recruitment as there have been certain changes in their approach to recruitment and the official standards have been benchmarked against other countries and have compared favorably.

“However, we need to seriously address how our recruitment is actually being carried out in practice. We need to constantly check who we are recruiting and the type of person we want in the police. We need to equally be able to identify gaps in our screening processes and to develop the ability to attract the right kind of skills. Once we have the right type of recruits, we must be in a position to effectively career path people so that these skills are developed and retained,” she said.

The sixth priority is to ensure that there is improvement in the management of finances and other resources in order to effectively and efficiently use these particular resources.

“Such management requires control measures that will help to reduce waste and damage or loss of equipment,” she said.

The seventh priority is command and control to address how members at all levels are being managed.

“Management must become more accountable on how officers working under their command and control operate and perform. Part of management performance must not only be about being able to issue instructions but also about managing how these instructions are implemented,” she said.

Commissioner’s views

Compol Elizabeth said the review of this year’s statistics shows the remarkable work of the police force.

“It was an excellent work done when compared to challenges faced, the reduction of 31% in the crime level is a very significant figure which depicts the extremely hard work by the police officers during this year,” he said.

According to Compol Elizabeth there were a lot of events and activities held throughout the year which made their job more intense but the biggest challenge faced by his department was the parliamentary election.

“During one of the most fiercely contested elections, it was not easy to maintain peace when there was high tension within the country and a lot of resources had to be mobilised but in the end it worked out to the satisfaction of the police although it was not easy,” he said.

He commended the officers for the hard work done during 2016.

“We will continue with the same vigour and there are more opportunities which we have foreseen for our dedicated officers for 2017. Although there will be more challenges in the coming year we hope to work in partnership with the community with more professionalism and to develop officers which provide a high standard of service which will meet the expectations of the public,” he said.

Compol Elizabeth’s vision for Seychelles is to have a police force which is professional, make more use of modern technology to prevent and detect crime, a police which will command respect from and build confidence in the public while making the public understand their responsibility to respect the laws in place.

Compiled by Ralista Hortere