RCIPS rebuilding after local job freeze

| 14/02/2018 | 37 Comments
Cayman News Service

RCIPS Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis (courtesy CIGTV)

(CNS): The deputy police commissioner has said that the RCIPS is now rebuilding its capacity after the freeze on local recruitment was lifted four years ago. Anthony Ennis said that 39 Caymanian officers have joined the service since it restarted local job drives and most of them are still there. He said the freeze had an impact on the local numbers, and while Cayman needs a diverse service to reflect the community, it is also important for Caymanians to “see people they can relate to”.

Speaking to CIGTV this week, Ennis said the latest recruitment drive that led to another group of locals joining the service was helping the police replenish its local officers.

“When we suspended the local recruitment programme… we lost the momentum for building local capacity,” he said. Ennis said the return to a focus on bringing in local recruits was good for longevity and “building the next generation of Caymanian officers”.

Pointing to the need for diversity in the RCIPS to reflect the make-up of our society, he said the increase in locals has an important impact on the service as well as the community.

“Caymanians will see people [in the RCIPS] that they know and who grew up in the community,” he said, maintaining that this would also create a sense of pride as Caymanians see their own people in the service.

Recruiting more locals into the service would not only ensure that officers reflect the community they police but would provide a steady stream of officers being promoted to senior position, making it easier for the service to put in place succession planning for the top job.

The RCIPS has only ever had one local commissioner and it has been more than a dozen years since Buel Braggs retired after just two years at the helm. Since then there has been a succession of police commissioners from the UK, until the recruitment of the current commissioner, Derek Byrne, who is from Ireland.

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Comments (37)

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  1. Burning Spear says:

    Ppm love of country my ass!! Mixed up with mother trying hard to subvert Cayman and their very own people shame on you Alden and all those fool fool followers who continue to court disaster.

  2. Diogenes says:

    CIGTV has always made me uneasy, other than broadcasting the LA sittings and other government communications they also do these highlight reels reminiscent of propaganda, meant to shine some positive light on the administration ( I would much rather they focus on actually doing a good job rather than putting on an edited and scripted circlejerk)
    Much like Trump spends hours a day watching positive coverage on Fox News (faux news is more appropriate) I feel like Alden walks into this cushy office and watches these videos on repeat before he gets started every morning. Needless to say like most media sources, always maintain some skepticism to the reports especially for government run outlets like CIGTV.
    Not to mention the fact that the coincidentally CIGTV Youtube channel has recently stopped uploading the”For the Record” show to their channel, In my personal view it is probably because the show was generally quite critical of the administration, then again that is my conjecture (but note the statement by Mr McField a couple weeks back also if you are wondering why I noticed this it is because I generally am either asleep or busy during the airing of the show so I generally listen later at night)
    As for this story, are we meant to thank the ideal masters for returning what they themselves took away? They had all of the power to ensure that this system was in place for all of this time and now that recruitment of locals has resumed are we meant to sing their praises?
    It is a good initiative but it begs the question why was this stopped in the first place, did the government think the RCIPS was too Caymanian? (I doubt that, but where is the reasoning?)
    Then he goes on to talk about how important it is for locals to be involved in policing, yet the commissioner as the article points out has only been Caymanian once? Surely we should be looking to have a Caymanian at the head of our police force as no one would be more connected to our people or experienced in Cayman’s issues.
    Then again I do believe the point is to ensure that we know we aren’t independent and that the UK has someone in a secondary position of authority protecting their interests
    Maybe our good friend who always has a tirade about the UK boiling in the forefront of his mind could provide some clarity (pun intended)

    Then again, I prefer my propaganda the conventional way, I’ll just stick to watching Infowars for the entertainment value

    Diogenes

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    • Diogenes says:

      Addendum: Today’s “For the Record” has been uploaded after a three week gap (assuming that the program has been on air during the last three weeks and I am pretty sure it was), again it was just something I noticed, and was of note because of the critical nature of the program

      Diogenes

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      • Anonymous says:

        Steve Mcfield, Theresa Pitcairn and Mary Lawrence are very negative sorts of individuals, always seeing faults with things especially if expats are involved. And unfortunately Orett Connor has become like that too. It is sobering to think he was once Cayman’s Cabinet Secretary, a post which is supposed to be vitally important, but which in Cayman is just a glorified gopher post.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Recruiting more police officers…. what a joke this is.. more foreigners to do what… enroll in Law School and other training instead of doing what they were recruited to do???? Talk about corruption!!!!!

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  4. PPm Years says:

    How can our so called government harrass the private sector about anti Caymanian employment policies went it is guilty of the very seem thing?? four years where Caymanians were excluded from their own police service enabling others to dominate and take control.We are now seeing and experiencing the consequences of this deliberate colonial orchestrated policy. Yes Mr Guy Banks R.I.P. not even you they will leave alone in this terrible place shame on all you so called political leaders.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Honestly… its painful to know that Cayman isnt for Caymanians how can you have the very nerve to aay “we wont even hire Caymanians in CAYMAN” FOR 4 YEAARRSS?!??!! Im getting the sense that some people in the RCIPS are mentally challenged or something.. how can you oppressed the locals?? The island truly need Christ.. beyond anything.. atleast they lifted it.. but why lift it in the first place what kinda please is this I was born in huh? Lord….

  5. Anonymous says:

    The RCIPS are continuing to lose very good EXPERIENCED officers, both Caymanian and ex pat, which will take years to recover the ground. The atmosphere is not good, and the wrong culture is dominating the service – and it.s not Caymanian or British. There underlies the real problem.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Lol

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Recruitment is great, but how about they also focus on retention too.
    How many good Caymanians have left the RCIPS in the past 3 years?
    Why have they left?
    Why do they continue to leave?
    What is being done to identify and train younger Caymanians to one day assume senior leadership roles.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    “Good governance”.

    – Whodatis

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  9. Anonymous says:

    There has always been Caymanian Police Officers within RCIPS. Do not criticise this Force for employing ex pats. It is good to have a mixture of employees in any workplace. In this calibre of job there has to be standards, not just academic, but have to have the right attitude, foresight and commitment. Not all applicants are suitable. It is good to see that there are 39 Caymanian officers currently employed and the door is now open for future applicants. This is a move in the right direction for RCIPS, but like the UK and other countries throughout the world, expats need to be recruited also. We live in a multi racial society where it is important to be able to live and work alongside each other without any discrimination whatever colour or creed. This is the 21st century and the way forward.

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    • Jay X says:

      Great for who it has come at the cost of some of our very best to be replace by murderers and criminals from overseas or have you obviously been living in your own lala land

    • Anonymous says:

      Sorry what? Yes there has always been Caymanian Police Officers within the RCIPS. But the percentage of Caymanians when measured against other nationalities is strikingly different. Please advise on another country where the Police Force does not reflect the mass majority of its demographic? Go ahead, I’ll wait. I’m afraid 39 Caymanian officers ( if there are even real Caymanian I.E Cayman roots) wont be the answer. Whilst I agree that we must be diverse, we cannot escape the fact that a none Caymanian will have no allegiance to Cayman. Thus, their views at to the affects of crime on Cayman society will be no more than viewed as I’m only here for a contract. Hence why places like America, Canada do not employ none citizens to uphold the laws of the land. Unfortunately, recruiting is just the start of the long list of the RCIPS issues.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Was there really a freeze on local hiring? Who’s great idea was that?

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    • Guy Ebanks says:

      The only freeze in recruitment has been against ex pats… all recruit classes for last 4 years been Caymanian officers only. Never been no freeze on local hiring.. never thats just wrong what he saying… wrong!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Another misinformed Keyboard cowboy.

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        • Mach 1 says:

          No another misinformed keyboard illiterate crybaby!!!

          • Jotnar says:

            OPs posting could have been more grammatical, but misinformed is out of order – he seems absolutely spot on. How do you reconcile the highly publicised recruitment campaigns over the last few years with a hiring freeze on locals?

  11. Anonymous says:

    With over 400 officers already on payroll, it shouldn’t matter where the officers originate from, so long as an effective number are given their instructions to deploy and attend to neglected areas of responsibility. You don’t need to warn the bad guys, or ask for our permission to do this. If the command structure doesn’t understand what they need to do, they should be replaced with priority.

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  12. Guy Ebanks says:

    There has never been a freeze on locals joining RCIP.. never. They recruit the 39 to try and replace the near 50 who resigned the last year because RCIP in meltdown. There ain’t no local officer gonna be promoted with this crew at the wheel.. They already had promising local officers… they left already!!! We all know who they be. No ‘succession planning’ for them officers.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    police farce is full of people who couldn’t get a real job in the real world.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    rcips is overstaffed with non-performing layabouts…..end of story.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    The fire still burns!

  16. Internal Affairs says:

    Did the RCIPS ever find the missing drugs or make arrests or update the public regarding the obvious corruption within RCIPS since drugs and evidence regularly go missing from the secure lockup at GT Central station? Perhaps the Commissioner and Governor Kilpatrick can update the public unless this is not deemed important enough to them in carrying out their duties.

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    • Shhhhhhhhhh. says:

      You are a bit far off topic I think! DCP Ennis was speaking about local recruitment, not anecdotal matters, or, is it that you simply slinging mud?

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      • Anonymous says:

        $25mln in drugs walking out of a secured facility with no working cameras or witnesses is memorable and should merit some public follow up. More recently, the masked machete bandit that arrived at Morritts after drug report should also stand out as at least suspicious. The point is that local connections might not be what we need, and perhaps the opposite.

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      • Anonymous says:

        So ignoring the culture and core issues inside the RCIPS is your solution? You must be a senior government official, MLA, indifferent or an ostrich!

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      • Fred the Piemaker says:

        He is off topic, but perhaps his point is that the RCIPS like to publish positive stories – crack down on drunk drivers, increase in local recruitment – which deal with commonly expressed complaints about them, but strangely reticent to update the public on others. In that regard the posters reference drugs and evidence going missing “regularly” may be overstated, but the theft of a very large quantity of drugs from GT evidence locker, and the removal of confiscated dirt bikes, with no culprit identified and an obvious inference of inside assistance, are hardly anecdotal. I would be a damn sight more concerned about how the police have failed to deal with issues as fundamental to the publics perception of the honesty, integrity and competence of the police as these then the exact numbers of Caymanian recruits.

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    • Charles Darwin says:

      I heard that they were eventually disposed of in small controlled combustions by numerous people. Wink, wink. 😉

  17. Anonymous says:

    Another sign of the great improvements that are honorable premier and the Unity team are making for our Cayman Islands. Thank you and please get back for 4 more years!

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    • Anonymous says:

      How many Tidepods have you consumed today?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Please stop these hurtful comments as our government is doing there best to tackle all these problems.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Nonsense. The Government is as inept as the worst performing civil servant. The worst thing is they seem to continue to do what they do even when they know that it is harming Cayman. Reelection is the only problem they are prepared to focus on. Leaders make unpopular decisions. When was the last time you saw that from this gang?

          • Anonymous says:

            If you are so unhappy then you should leave. Our dedicated unity team is working steadily and things are changing. Have faith.

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