Cops get close to $30 million
(CNS): While other government departments and agencies may be forced to feel the pinch in this year’s budget, the police have been given a boost with an increase in their budget allocation of more than 10% with an extra $3.3 milllion for police and investigative services. The amount was approved in Finance Committee on Tuesday afternoon after two top cops faced a grilling from legislators that they would get results with the extra cash. For the first time the RCIPS has introduced detection targets in its outputs, currently estimated at around only 31%, which it hopes to improve by at least 10%. Steve Brougham, the acting commissioner, said that with the introduction of a new IT system the RCIPS would be able to measure crime detection rates more accurately in future.
Explaining the statistics, which suggest that almost 70% of crimes go undetected, the senior officer told the committee that at present, because the two computer systems that report crimes andcharges made in connection with crimes don’t communicate, the detection rates are done by hand. Therefore the 31% is the lowest rate but it could be higher, he said and explained that in future they new system would enable the RCIPS to measure it much more accurately. However, he warned that the largest amount of crime committed in the Cayman Islands is petty crime such as damage to property, which is not only difficult to solve but not where police resources are best spent.
Brougham told the legislators that the new IT system would enable officers to measure response times more accurately because at present it is gauged through random sampling, where officers call complainants to find out if they were happy with the service they received from the RCIPS.
He also revealed that the police were patrolling for more hours and that re-training and redistribution of officers had placed more cops on the streets. In the past the shift system meant there were the same amount of officers on duty on a Monday morning at 7am as there were on Friday night at 11pm.
“That wasn’t acceptable,” Brougham added and explained that the shifts were altered to ensure that more officers were on duty when they were needed. He said that 25% more officers have now received firearms training, which would enable the RCIPS to boost numbers in the Uniform Support Group if necessary. All of the major districts — Bodden Town, George Town and West Bay — now have 24/7 cover by armed response units, the officer said.
The RCIPS has undergone a number of changes, Brougham explained, as it moves away from what he described as a “silo mentality”. The service was used to sending a traffic cop to a motor vehicle accident, a financial crimes officer for a stolen cheque or someone from family support to a domestic situation. Now, he said, officers were cross-trained and could deal with a wider range of scenarios. “What we need are multi-competent officers who can do lots of things,” he said.
Asked about marine patrol, the top cop revealed that there have been problems with some of the recently purchased vessels, but he said that he could not go into too much detail as the service was pursuing a legal case against the manufacturer because of a number of design faults with some boats. He said, however, that the “go-faster” vessels were proving their worth and, in conjunction with the air support unit, had scored a number of important drug hauls, having intercepted several canoes. He explained that during the coming financial year the police hope to more than double the marine and air patrols to clamp down on the drugs and guns coming on to the island.
Category: Crime
Anonymous -19:45,
Your comments are not only in the ballpark of the truth, i think you may have hit one down the third base line and ended up on third base…..i'm gonna bring you home.
I am extremely fed up with the lies and excuses we hear on a daily basis about the RCIPS. Their incompetence appears to be on steroids and keeps getting larger (worse) by the day. What makes it worse is that we, Caymanians, often get the blame when something goes wrong but we are too stupid to realize that when we are placed in positions and given certain duties it is always for "other" reasons.
Another 30 mil is given to the RCIPS again which will be used to enhance patrols and increase arrest and curb the crime on our island. In the mean time, There is a pending law suit over defective vessels? These design flaws, as they are called, are not responsible for the fact that only 2 of the 6 vessels or operational. The reason why they are out of service and at the docks every day is because they have been damaged by the so-called "Captains" who know and have done everything imaginable. If they were as competent as they "sound" their services would be a sought by the worlds busiest ports and would have "Master Mariner" and "Port Captains" uniforms for various ports/ships pressed,hanging and ready at all times. Instead, someone comes down here, who has no marine experience, is put in a leadership position and deligates who, when, and how to run the boats. The poor Caymanian tries his hardest to impress his superior and takes his "captain's" appointment and heads out.
I fail to see how effective a law suit against the manufacturer will be because during the entire construction process of the vessels the Cayman Islands Marine Surveyor, head of the DTF and other officers made numerous trips to the factory to oversee construction and to make sure the vessels were being built to the exact specifications provided to them by the RCIPS. To say now that there were some design flaws only adds to their incompetence. If they were so good, why then were these flaws not seen on the plans or noticed as the vessel was being constructed. Before the vessels were delivered they were sea trialed and approved and accepted by both the CI Marine Survey Department and RCIPS Marine brass and engineers.
The damage to the vessels came from (1)Following orders given by persons that were trusted to have knowledge and experience-(emergency stops- 20+knts fwd direct to reverse in a following sea), (2)Outright stupidity-(starting generator,a/c, etc while on trailer), and last but not least, the shallow bars, reefs, rocks and docks inability to move out of the way quick enough. Unfortunately, all of the above is true and will no doubt result in nothingless than some poor Caymanian left to take the fall while the expats, sorry, experts carry on their daily duties of coffee breaks and flag waving around "their" island.
There are only a few Caymanians left in the RCIPS now and they are under constant pressure. Think about it; would you be able to function if your boss made a statement that he was having to bring in overseas officers to compliment the local officers because they were basically uneducated and dumb. Meanwhile, the so called experienced and knowledgeable overseas officers are out enforcing laws that don't exist, making false arrest and loosing evidence…and we are supposed to feel good about that?
I think that the $30 mil would have been better spent on one way plane tickets, and we fend for ourselves…
I hope they use some of it to pay Rudolph Dixon and the other who were wrongfully accused.
Typical response by ignorant people to a problem . Throw some money at it, the more the better!
Oh well, there goes another CI$ 30 mil …….
My suggestion, get off your backside and start to make the people know that there actually IS a police in town! I suggest you start by putting an end to all the gazillion traffic offenses which occur every day. Perhaps when people see and feel that there is someone out there that will make sure there is a consequence to their (illegal) actions, the criminals will also sit up and take notice………
not our way bobo
This is a good time, because it's now paying off. Crimes are being solved just look around the criminals are being caught.
Hey what the hell give the RCIP the $30mil, then give the 49yr concession, give Imparto from BT to NS to dredge out every last grain of rock,marl, sand, hell cut Cayman into pieces, then add Darts lifetime concession,Micheal Ryans debt, write it off,
We natives will trade/bartar coconuts and grape tree leaves& donkey weed, cause at the rate this entire government is going our CI$ won't be worth jack s*** very soon, as it is now $100 in the grocery store only buys the plastic bags because there is nothing in the bags for $100 anymore.
McKeeva and all of the members of the LA have completely distroyed this country.
May God have mercy on the people of the Cayman Islands, who the Lord can bring us back to the beloved Cayman Islands that we once knew.
Good luck to you acting commissioner Brougham sorting out this mess by yourself. let me simplify some of the issues for you. The computer system you speak of was implemented by non other than Mr Larry Covington of the FCO. OTRICIS should be called O-TRICKS it was never set up to help the RCIPS but obviously had other special purposes i will leave the general public to use their imagination on that one. The extent of access it has to gov't systems is unknown and so too of who controls this"system." Poor old Cayman the spying never stops! Multi tasking of officers absolutely not new. Here we go reinventing the wheel all over again. This was a common practice by the old Traffic department and its officers and later adapted by the DTF which made them very effective units. For that very reason, some are still scratching their heads why some of the now existing aggressively intelligent senior inept leadership were so hell bent on maligning, undermining and dismantling these effective departments and who systematicly and deliberately saw to the removal of its experienced and capable leadership and strategies by nefarious methods is befuddling. I guess a lie is better these days than an excuse . But as we look around today and see the amount of money wasted and the large amount of foreign police officers per capita and the very high crime rate and the serious lack of and poor leadership and state of affairs in Cayman and RCIPS, you must come to realise the it was not by circumstances alone, that this situation infact was orchestrated by a number of very devious persons, who no doubt are deriving great benefit from this very destablising situation.. Just the turnover of police commissioners is unusual to say the least. In regards to the vessels i would be extremely careful on relying on our in house experts as they are known for telling a few fibs and you might find yourself in a legal bind relying on their expert opinions,sea dog experiences don't subsitute in the marine survey field of expertise. But saying that those who were in on the selection process had very little knowlege of experience in such vessels and have even since move on to more cushy jobs in the private sector leaving us with vessel prototypes who have not been sea trialed and tested for extended periods of time . We are now left with cost of paying to work out the kinks and reckless persons put incharge of these expensive vessels. Well here we are 30 million dollars later with one of the largest Police service in the region. Is Cayman any safer? Oh but the ranks are full up with the little cliques. Anyone Cayman who doesn't take the truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. As for our hopeless politicians you can sell them any old jibe cause they got to stay in good with police cause you never know when you going to need to put the old fix in on some sticky situation they might find themselves in, nothing like calling in and old favor.
Interesting post!
Beware multi-tasking, it's is an old UK trick to cover up shortages and it tends to be a massive waste of resources. In one place I lived it turned dedicated traffic units into glorified area cars and that meant highly-trained officers got tied up dealing with trivial 999 calls rather than dealing with problems on the roads.
The results only came to light when one night specialist officers from a neighbouring force (who weren't multi-tasking) had to be called in to deal a fatal road accident because all our local traffic units were tied up on other duties.
Eventually what seems to happen if this policy is implemented throughout is that you end with a, "Jack of all trades, master of none," organisation.
I hear ya deh Kourtney M you tell dem how a go!
Firstly, where is Baines, and secondly, you could throw all the money you want at the arsehips (RCIPS) and it will make no difference what-so-ever. What is required, what has always been required, is an intelligent service with the balls to admit when they screw up, put it right, and move on.
As me and probably all of my 'ousted' expatriate colleagues will tell you, until the ignorance is weeded out of the RCIP, and the fear from the established 'good old boys' of change, progress and/or skilled new recruits, then the Cayman Islands people will not receive the policing they deserve. Show me anywhere (else) in the civilised world where one cop only has to look after 100 people each (i.e. 450 cops for 45,000 odd public). Even if the figures have changed subtly, the message is the same. It's not money, technology of numbers that will make a difference, it is a wholesale cultural change, so that the 'old guard' wake up and realise that 'because i say so' is not a legitimate command regime. How about 'because it's lawful, and we've proved it will work?'.
Whether it's XXXXX, they all have to have the balls to actually do what they say, not merely say it to an ever more skeptical and dissatisfied public.
You're measuring response times now? Good, start doing it for management too.
I know this has nothing to do with the 30 million, but a bit concerning though. The other day (I know I seen it in the news) a 15 year old girl went missing after leaving school that morning. As of to date, I haven't seen anything more on it???????
i think its time about time i get a job! let's say commissioner's accountant :))
Thing is – I am almost sure the public service review recommended a cut in the budget for the RCIP…..not an increase.
You know what I really think, those poor police officers need a raise in pay. When you think about what is happening in Cayman today, I would suggest that the police is given a good pay rise to give them a better feeling in moral. They deserve it.
Are you crazy, they are they highest paid govt dept as it is, not to mention the perks that they already recieve and the expat officers basically collect a pay check and live of the govt for all their needs, Housing, Travel, dependants, they are on a paid vacation, as for the commisioner he is collecting a very pretty penny for doing absolutely nothing, look at where he is coming from England vs Cayman which is a needle in a hay stack compared and crime is increasing!!!!! c'mon you were looking for a "joke" vote gotta be!
You ga have get in line we all want the accountant's job. lol! The Tsar is coming though.
$30mm TO MEASURE CRIME!!!!????? WHAT????
FOR GOD's SAKE, DONT TELL ME THAT THE RCIPS NEED $30MM TO FIND OUT WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW.
YES!!! the crime has INCREASED!!!
Here's the answer: Since Sept 2004, after Hurricane Ivan, crime has increased 975%.
Serious crimes, such as murder and armed robbies and bank robberies that DID NOT EXIST as that time, is NOW prevelant.
Now you have your answer!!
GOVT, wouldn't it had been cheaper to pay me a FRACTION of the $30 million for the same answers you're going to get from this ludicrous investment???
I know that it’s reported that there was an increase to this years budget, but just for clarity, could we please review the official budget for last year.
I believe, but could be wrong, that the police actually had an approved budget of $33m CI last year.
Could be the budweisa, but even I know that SLOW nah spelt SILO.
Not the buds.
What Does Silo Mentality Mean?
An attitude found in some organizations that occurs when several departments or groups do not want to share information or knowledge with other individuals in the same company. A silo mentality reduces efficiency and can be a contributing factor to a failing corporate culture.
The "SILO MENTALITY" is not the sole prerogative of factions within the Police Force. There are other areas in government too and especially where expatriates are involved. Some have a tendency to pull the wool over less sophisticated minds who prefer to believe in the accent rather than substance, and thus end up creating an aura of indispensability. It takes world class experience and travel working with other cultures to recognise this, but sadly the decision maker's believe that " to come from foreign is betta" prevails. This is often at the expense of home grown talent developed through lots of training,experience and participation in international forums. When are people going to believe in their own and see through this rubbish and ask the fundamental question – if they were indeed so great what circumstances caused them to leave a larger developed (G20) nation where surely there must be more opportunities? Or perhaps they were and still are not so good after all, and could not compete with the best there and NEED to be in Cayman.
Growth of Police budget very Interesting? So Department that support Police should increase as well right.
Hardly my dear fella it just does'nt wuk like dat, have you ever heard of goverment coordinating things like dat
30% (THIRTY PERCENT) DETECTION RATE – sounds about right…let's give them even more money (that's what we did with the politicians anyways remember – did less, paid um more)
SDRAWKCAB (Bet Big Mac dont figure it out!! -__- )
It used to be said that from whom much was given, much was expected…however, I am disappointed to hear the Mr. Bro-Ham keep using the word.."hope"….we don't really CARE what you "hope" to accomplish…we DO CARE about what you WILL accomplish…please let us see more of the latter and less of the former….and as far as cross-training your officers…
“What we need are multi-competent officers who can do lots of things,” he said.
Whilst I would agree whole heartedly with you need officers who CAN do lots of things…I would think it is more important to have officers who WANT to do lots of things…makes no sense to have officers who can but don't want to…
I can only hope that these extra resources given to the RCIPS will prove beneficial in providing the island with more efficient police and investigative services.
On an island this small, there is no reason why these services are still not up to par. Considering the rise in crime here of late, the police need to ban together to keep our communities safe, and as a result, there is a general feeling of unrest and mistrust (of the police force) when it comes to their services.
The police need to bear in mind that each of them are a representative of our communities, along with their families, and therefore have more of a stake in making sure their services are top notch and our island’s crime rate is addressed properly.
In regard to the “silo mentality” that Mr. Brougham speaks of; the issue is that the entire government system works on a silo mentality. It is no wonder then, that each department within the system would adopt such a mentality.
At this juncture,all I can say to the RCIPS is, you have now been given the resources, now show us the results!
N.B. A silo mentality is “an attitude found in some organizations that occurs when several departments or groups do not want to share information or knowledge with other individuals in the same company. A silo mentality reduces efficiency and can be a contributing factor to a failing corporate culture”. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/silo-mentality.asp#axzz1Q1haKZhV on 22 June 2011.
If govt is going to spend that amount of money with the RCIPS then they should be investing in better equipment and better training. How about training more police how to use guns instead of having a special task force only. At lease one police should be at every bank conveniniet stores etc. How about using that money to send a certain division off island to be properly training in how to actually solve crimes. For such a small island and such high crimes. Too many crimes are being unsolved and too many people are being set free because of lack of evidence, why because our police are not properly trained and when we do have evidence if it's not being tampered with it dissapears. So if money is going to be injected in that area use it wisely.
$30 million (presumably CI) for a force of over 300 officers actually seems about right.
Where I normally live an annual budget of roughly US$200million funds around 1700 officers. In Cayman the costs wil always be higher because a lot of the things we take for granted (like the services of a crime lab) have to be bought in.
In comparison to the $228 million total staffing cost for the civil service it's not a huge amount and that probably reflects the political priorities in the Cayman Islands.
What worries me about this expenditure is where is it all going? RCIPS apparently still do not have basic items like GSR (gun shot residue) testing kits and are only just introducing audio/visual recording of suspect interviews – these are very basic things.
Incidentally, why is Steve Brougham making all the excuses for the RCIPS? Where is Commissioner Baines when all this is being decided?
for those of you thinking this is all towards capital projects you are certainly mistaken; 85% of this is spent on paying just over 400 members of staff monthly over twelve months, 10% on paying utilities, rent, helicopter and boat maintenance & fuel fees and the normal day to day expenses it takes to run a business. the remaining 5% is invested in training and recruiting and if there is anything left over perhaps enough to buy a few handcuffs, batons and pepper spray to defend themselves against the criminals who use all your money yearly on hefty legal fees by having total disregard for lawfulness in this island. raise your children properly and there will be no need for all of this money to be spent on the security of your country.
OMG and SMH – what about tackling the ROOT CAUSES of crime you morons?
We need to address parenting issues, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health treatment issues and the failures of the education system.
We need a TRADE AND VOCATIONAL SCHOOL so our young men can be trained, certified and gainfully employed. Couldn't some of this $30 f*#%ing million go towards that????
Too many of our young people have already fallen through the gaping cracks in our society.
The criminality we are now seeing is a direct result of our social failures.
How loud do we have to scream before anyone hears us????????
AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
CNS: "The amount was approved in Finance Committee on Tuesday afternoon after two top cops faced a grilling from legislators that they would get results with the extra cash."
Thirty million dollars is a lot of money. I know this trigger sense of humor, but could CNS make a pie chart to show this money's allocation so readers here would be able to have a full understanding of what needs funding? And perhaps this chart can be compared to another chart reflecting the current money allocation of the RCIP.
People should ask serious questions. Definitely, what will happen with this money? And how will this money be audited?
Yes I would like to know the rcips is in desperate need of equipment so that the people working there can do their jobs properly and be frustrated all the time. New cars properly equipped, police radios almost all batteries are past there shelf life and their charge only last a few hours. radars, intoxylizers,computers that dont take 5 mins to warm up, software and computers from different departments that talk to each other so officers know whit whom and what their dealing with. More officers on patrol per shift so that the ones working can take some of those 700 hrs of time that the department owes them because the RCIPS does not pay overtime. eliminating the traffic department is just a band aid to inflate the numbers and as shown in other countries that doing without a traffic dept. does not work. If it would the UK, US and Canada wouldnt have a traffic dept. Bottom line more officers are needed 30-40 more and the list goes on…..
Thats alot of donuts & patties!
Good to see extra resources to tackle crime.
And what is the country getting in return We are "Intelligently aggressive" yes please read the fourth topic down stating the two comments the public frequently understands and has to deal with Insufficient Evidence or No Evidence boy that is sure a whopping bill 30 Million$$$$$$$$$$$$ for incompetence.
LMAO LMAO LMAO 30 million dollars, I still can't stop laughing…do you really think 30 million dollars is going to help the police???? Having good officers is where they need to start. What is 30 million dollars going to do?? That is alot of money to be wasting more toys for them. With that money they can bring in the proper people to do the job!!!! LMAO LMAO still laughing!!!!
Keep shoveling it down our throats for as usual we will keeping swallowing.
I think RCIPS should buy a submarine with the extra cash… or maybe a F-16 fighter jet… Eh I'm sure they'll ignore my suggestions and squander the money.
Think of the jaywalkers they could catch with a fighter jet!!!!
What a damn waste!!
BETTER policing required, not more.