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Theo wants VKS to form new Soualiga Police team
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Mar 10, 2006 14:26 UTC
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PHILIPSBURG - Tourism Commissioner Theo Heyliger is advocating that the Voluntary Corps of St. Maarten VKS be used to form the new Soualiga Police Team of tourist-oriented police officers to combat criminal activities in Philipsburg.
He met Thursday with Local Chief of Police Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards and VKS Commander Major Jean Illidge and discussed this possibility.
The meeting was held in a bid to deal with the problem of “a long wait” for the start of the Soualiga Team, which the Windward Islands Police Force was given a mandate to establish and which is expected to be charged with responsibility for patrolling the entire Philipsburg area.
Member of Parliament Maria Buncamper-Molanus expressed her concerns about the delay in a letter to the Chairman of the Executive Council (the Lt. Governor) on Tuesday and demanded to know why the Soualiga Team was not yet in place.
She was also very critical of the police’s current role in crime prevention, saying it appeared that they were turning a blind eye to crimes taking place in Philipsburg.
Police Chief Commissioner of the Windward Islands Derrick Holiday called her remarks degrading to police officers who put their lives on the line daily for the security of the nation.
He also defended the strict recruitment process – which includes a psychological evaluation that the candidates must pass – and which he said was the main cause of the delay.
Heyliger reacted on Thursday, stating that the Executive Council was not starting its own police team, but wanted “action.” He said, “The same information that Mr. Holiday released to the media in response to what he wrongly ‘learned’ should have been presented to the Executive Council a long time now.
“Why does the Executive Council have to get a report about the status of the Soualiga Team via the media? We’ve been requesting information for the last eight weeks. The Executive Council has never gotten an official report on the progress of the team.”
In defence of the possible use of VKS officers for the Soualiga Team, Heyliger said, “If the VKS officers can patrol Philipsburg during the evening hours without police escort, they can do so during the day as well. We are discussing the VKS, not any security firm or any new police team.”
Heyliger said he did not “consider (use of) our VKS a scary alternative.” He continued: “What is scary is the spate of crime, petty or otherwise, that is increasing in the Philipsburg area. The situation in establishing the Soualiga Team has dragged on too long and people are demanding action. We cannot have monies budgeted for the Soualiga Team just sitting there and have nothing coming from the entire exercise…
“Mr. Holiday said it was irresponsible for the Executive Council to form its own force. What is irresponsible is making statements about what you ‘heard’ the Executive Council ‘might’ be doing and making predictions about what may happen next. All of this without factual information. That was irresponsible and defeats this whole effort which we all should be working on as a team.”
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