Lawmakers have approved a $74.3 million budget for police, coast guard and regimental services for the coming year, an increase of nearly $15 million compared to what was originally allocated for 2025.
The hike in funding for these agencies will be used to help bolster staffing levels, especially in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, where 45 new hires will be added, including 15 shift officers, 11 community policing officers, six traffic officers, and three constables on Cayman Brac. There will also be 10 new posts in the RCIPS’s financial crime investigation offices.
Commissioner of Police Kurt Walton, appearing before Parliament’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, 18 Nov., told legislators there are currently 529 employees across the three agencies: 375 police officers and 101 civilian support staff in the RCIPS, 40 uniform staff in the Cayman Islands Coast Guard, and 13 full-time employees in the Cayman Islands Regiment.
‘Complete refresh’
A number of MPs questioned Walton on the planned efforts to beef up community policing across the districts. The commissioner repeatedly highlighted his belief in the importance of officers being at the heart of the local neighbourhoods, saying he wanted a “complete refresh” of community policing.
He said he wanted to see “community policing with a hard edge”, adding that with serious crime on the decline, based on the 2024 police statistics report, and the crime detection rate nearing 50%, a holistic approach of officers working with other agencies and building engagement in the local communities was now a goal.
He told lawmakers he felt that, within the RCIPS, every police officer, including himself, was a community officer.
“I’m trying to change the mindset of officers, to get it through that you’re a community police officer first … even if you’re carrying 50 pounds of ballistic equipment with guns and tasers; first and foremost, you’re a community officer,” he said.
More officers on the streets
Walton told legislators that the number of community policing officers across the districts would increase from the current 10 officers to 21 by early next year, once training was completed.
Parliamentarians also raised questions about road safety in Cayman, including efforts to crack down on speeding. Walton responded that by investing more in staffing the RCIPS traffic unit, he could put a “full complement” of officers on the local roads. He noted that the National Road Safety Committee, of which he is a member, was also discussing the use of speed cameras and the introduction of a demerit points system for driver’s licences.
He said he planned to have 24 new recruits in a classroom by February next year, and to have those officers on the streets by mid-2026.
Asked if the budget the government had earmarked for the agencies that Walton oversees was adequate, the commissioner replied that he was “very happy” with it.
The police chief, at an earlier Finance Committee meeting in September this year where he was granted additional funding, had noted that staffing levels at the RCIPS at that time were the same as they had been in 2008, when the population was about 56,000, compared to more than 90,000 now.
He acknowledged on Tuesday, in response to a query from opposition member MP Roy McTaggart, that attrition of staff within the RCIPS was an ongoing issue, stating that so far this year, the service had lost 56 staff members, and noting that it needs to hold two recruitment classes a year to keep staffing levels up. “On average, we train 25 and lose 15,” he said.
With the current recruitment exercise, and additional funding for new staff available, Walton said he hoped to hire 50-60 officers next year, and more in 2027, bringing numbers up to what they were in 2019.
A salary equalisation exercise last year, as well as plans to provide continuous professional development and more succession planning, would help with staff retention, Walton said. Increasing existing staffing levels would also boost morale in the service, he added.
New police station
Walton, in response to a question from opposition member Kenneth Bryan, also gave an update on steps to move staff to 1 Technology Place, known locally as the FLOW building at the junction of Shedden Road and Eastern Avenue.
He said, “if all goes according to plan”, between 170 and 200 frontline police officers and administrators would move to that building in January next year.
Officers who had been based at the old George Town Police Station, which is condemned, are temporarily located at the nearby JN Building on Elgin Avenue.
‘Ageing police force’
The commissioner, answering a question from opposition member Chris Saunders, agreed that a large demographic within the RCIPS was older officers. He noted that a recent workplace planning report had identified that there were 147 officers aged between 46 and 59, as well as 28 officers aged 60-64, compared to 20 aged 18-25; 78 aged 26-35; and 97 aged 36-45.
“We do have an ageing police force,” he said. “That’s why I am intent and passionate about striving for young Caymanians to come into the police force.”
He added that while some may call it “positive discrimination”, he wanted to recruit Caymanians in the 18-35 age bracket.
As well as approving $74.3 million for the three agencies’ budgets for 2026, lawmakers also gave the green light to $75.4 million in funding for 2027.
In 2023, when the 2024/25 budget was approved, just under $59.5 million had been allocated for 2025. Lawmakers granted an additional $7.7 million in April this year to police, and another $1.2 million in September.
Premier André Ebanks, in a statement to Finance Committee members about the appropriation of funds for the departments under Walton’s remits, told legislators that the budget allocations “provide the foundation to strengthen frontline policing, enhance investigative capacity and modernise infrastructure and technology”.
He added, “This funding will also enable the recruitment of local police officers and critical support staff, to strengthen local succession planning, community policing and administrative efficiency.”
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