Tourist Police team officially launched |14 July 2023

The officers in a souvenir photograph with guests

● 23 officers complete the Lospitalite Lafyerte Sesel programme

The Tourist Police team was officially launched yesterday after the completion of the Lospitalite Lafyerte Sesel programme by 23 officers.

The small ceremony was graced by the presence of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde, the Commissioner of Police Ted Barbe, the Assistant Commissioners of Police and the principal secretary for Tourism Sherin Francis.

Minister Radegonde congratulated the officers who went through the training and noted that this group of police officers will help them in the job they are doing to bring order on our beaches and protect our visitors.

“You already have a way of interacting with your clients and now you have learnt more about customer relations. Lospitalite Lafyerte Sesel is a national campaign which has been embraced by many and we are happy to have the Seychelles Police onboard.”

Minister Radegonde shared that they want to give the best service to our tourists onshore and this can be done only by collaborating with each other.

“In the last two and half years, the figures I see regarding offences against tourists are shocking and they are mainly cases of thefts on the beach. We want the tourists to have a good experience when they come here and are able to speak positively about Seychelles.”

He also stated that the Tourist Police has a lot of catching up to do and be present to bring order on the beaches. He is hopeful for these figures to come down.

Commissioner Barbe noted he is happy that the officers have gone through such a training and shared that ‘Tourism Police’ already existed but not well organised.

He shared that worldwide specialist tourist police units have been adopted to fight tourism-related crime and disorder, hence the right time for Seychelles Police to put emphasis on our Tourist Police team.

“As law enforcers, we are aware of the challenges that we are faced with daily. These are without doubt, the safety and security of both citizens and visitors. Tourism as we all know, contributes in building destination image and it is very important that law enforcers play their part. Visitors to an unknown country are highly susceptible to victimisation and crime. One of our strategic objectives in our Strategic Plan 2023-2025 stipulates that we will make it even safer for those who live, work and visit Seychelles. We are committed to ensuring that visitors to our shores are not victimised or robbed during their stay in our country.”

Commissioner Barbe shared that the team will have a different uniform and they will serve the region they are attached to and will use the service of the stations. Their services will be extended in the future.

“The responsibility for the team has been passed on to the regional commanders to take ownership of this initiative, meaning they will supervise the officers and provide the logistics required for their daily activity. Please note that Tourist Police does not involve only beach duties, as in the near future we may need to extend the service in other areas, so as to prevent tourist-related crimes,” concluded Commissioner Barbe.

Constable Ernestine Biscornet is currently based at Beau Vallon and she is in the traffic investigation team and shared that “after going through this training, I am better prepared on how to talk to the tourists after they have had an accident. We learned how to handle them when they are distressed.”

All the officers received their certificate and a gift from Lospitalite Lafyerte Sesel division

Vidya Gappy

Photos: Leanne Alcindor