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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, January 18, 2019 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Ministry of National Security this week facilitated a five-day training course for officers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force. This came as the Team Unity administration has placed much greater emphasis on training for security personnel in the Federation throughout 2019.

A total of twenty-three officers benefited from the five-day training on Close Protection, which is designed to keep high value individuals such as dignitaries, safe. The training exercises were conducted by officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, sat down with the instructors of the training course at his office at Government Headquarters today (Friday, January 18, 2019) where he was briefed on the outcomes of the various exercises.

One of the instructors, Jennifer Lacelle, stated that the course covered a broad range of topics and saw the participants benefiting from hands on training during several practical sessions. She also commended the local participants for their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. 

Prime Minister Harris used Friday’s meeting to express his gratitude to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for ably assisting the twin island Federation in strengthening its security capabilities.

Prime Minister Harris has stressed that training for members of the security forces is a priority area for his administration throughout 2019.

Speaking at his monthly press conference on Wednesday, January 16, Dr. Harris stated that his administration inherited a situation in 2015 where a large number of police officers were in uniform but had not yet been exposed to formal training.

“We are correcting this unfortunate situation and consecrating the future. We expect to start training additional recruits early in 2019. This will be course #43, and 36 recruits are expected to be adequately prepared to serve as police officers. With the completion of this upcoming course, literally all police officers would have been exposed to formal training as recruits and graduated from their course,” Prime Minister Harris said.  

In 2018, 155 police officers received training. Of that total, 43 officers travelled overseas to attend courses, while 112 officers received training here in the Federation.