Police staff at highest level

The number of people employed by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Services has reached 420.

‘That’s the most staff we’ve ever had,’ said Deputy Commissioner of Police Rudi Dixon.

Of the RCIPS’s employees, 366 are police officers and 54 are civilian support staff members, Mr. Dixon said.

The RCIPS has recruited 76 police officers since Hurricane Ivan, Mr. Dixon said. It has also hired several specialists, including a crime analyst, a crime researcher and a fire arms specialist. A project manager and a human resource manager are also being recruited.

Mr. Dixon said the RCIPS has changed its recruiting practices to better anticipate police officer vacancies.

‘The Police Services has always had a very high turnover, so we’ve always had shortages of officers,’ he said.

To counter the high turnover, the RCIPS is going through the recruiting process ahead of time.

‘We’ve created a pool of police officers who are just on standby,’ he said. ‘That way when positions become available, we can fill the vacancies quite quickly.’

In addition to more staff, the RCIPS has increased the size of its vehicle fleet by almost 45 per cent in the past year.

‘We have 117 police cars now,’ Mr. Dixon said. ‘We had 81 at this time last year.’

About two-thirds of the fleet is made up of new cars.

Mr. Dixon said most of the vehicle fleet that remained after Hurricane Ivan has been taken off the road.

‘And we’re looking to replace the older one-third of the fleet,’ he said.

With regard to the RCIPS buildings, Mr. Dixon said all police stations with the exception of the one in West Bay had undergone improvements.

‘West Bay is the only one that still remains untouched,’ he said.

Mr. Dixon said the West Bay Police Station, which is more than 30 years old has some structural integrity-type issues.

‘There’s a plan into the Planning Department right now to renovate and expand the facility,’ he said.

But the RCIPS is not sure that is the route it wants to go with the West Bay facility, and Mr. Dixon admitted that tearing down the police station and then rebuilding it was one of the options being considered.

Mr. Dixon said the RCIPS would make an announcement shortly about the direction it would go with the West Bay police station.