UK press tails cops on CI trip
(CNS): The UK media was on the tail of three senior police officers from Britain this week as they paid a short visit to Cayman to review the latest murder investigations, offer some advice on tackling the growing local gang problem and to see how the 20 UK officers that will be on a six week assignment here can best be utilized. The Daily Mail managed to snap the top cops enjoying Seven Mile Beach, on board the commissioner’s boat and drinking at the beach bar during their four day visit rather than working their “nuts off”, as the Chief Constable of Merseyside, Jon Murphy, told the British Tabloid he and his colleagues were doing. (Left: Jon Murphy enjoying his advisory trip to Cayman. Photos by Splash News)
Murphy was accompanied on the trip, paid for by the Cayman Islands public purse, by his colleagues, Det Chief Supt Brian McNeill, from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and DetChief Supt Tony Doherty, head of the Merseyside force’s Matrix gun and organised crime squad.
It seems that their every move was watched by the UK tabloid, which had also closely followed the antics of the UK special police investigation team (SPIT) headed up by Martin Bridger during Operation Tempura. The Daily Mail had labelled SPIT the “Sunshine Squad” and the tabloid wasted no time naming the latest group of UK cops the “Snorkelling Squad”.
The paper’s photo journalists managed to capture the cops enjoying the sun, sea and sand but very little of the work that the officers were reportedly here to do. The tabloid reported that the photos showing them “sunbathing, snorkelling, sightseeing, reading novels and soaking up the sun in 84F heat are unlikely to go down well with colleagues back in Liverpool,” as they worked in a chilly 55F.
“Over two days, they were seen relaxing on the beach, enjoying a four-hour boat trip and swimming with giant stingrays on a beautiful coral reef,” the Daily Mail said of the senior officers during their Cayman trip.
The three UK top cops reportedly arrived on Monday evening but were followed by the Daily Mail through Wednesday and Thursday. The paper reported that the officers were involved in meetings with the RCIPS from around 9pm until before 4pm on Wednesday, when the police were on the beach at their hotel. On Thursday the Daily Mail reporters watched the officers enjoy a full day of leisure activities.
The men left Cayman on Friday evening after meeting with the attorney general and legislatures before holding a press briefing at police headquarters, where they said that the RCIPS were doing a good job investigating the recent murders given their limited resources.
See the Daily Mail’s full report here along with pictures the UK senior police officers enjoying their Cayman trip.
See related story where Murphy accuses journalists of spying on him
CNS Note: From the Department of Immigration website – one of the activities that is exempt from the work permit requirements is "the covering of a specific news assignment as a newspaper, magazine, radio or television journalist representing a recognised news organisation."
Category: Crime
I really don't understand why it's such a big deal if they took a day to enjoy our island.
Maybe cuz they came here to freaking WORK their 'arsses' off???!!! Come back on vacation and enjoy…this was not the time!!
WE dont need some British Bobbies here in a vacation bikini patrol to battle the gang thugs. Get some Navy Seals in here to really show them how you play with guns & be the tough guy. End of problem…..
If I was in charge of the Merseyside police facing their existing budget crunch I would do the same…rent my guys out to some unsuspecting island folks.
Any thought of us sending some civil servants to Cuba or Jamaica?
In the private sector when someone arrives for business they have a set agenda to follow and are often in office for the entire day. Prehaps these people should have been rought down for 48 hours in which time they would have been able to meet with the necessary parties and then return home…If government gave them the time to play with who is really to blame???
Commissioner Baines.
If these comments truly represent Cayman's new style of welcome to its invited visitors, then we really are in a sad place. Have we really become so cynical? We should welcome them, and cooperate with them in every way we can, and be thankful to be able to learn from their hard-earned-experience. One abduction, five murders,one attempted murder and a brace of robberies, all within days, would overload most police forces. Give them a break, and let them do what they do best, otherwise please cut the facile negativity and STFU.
I'll say it again. Money Well Spent.
When you climb Everest what do you do?
Acclimatize yourself!
These officers were doing that. On the beach.
They can't be expected to leave Britain to work in a hot climate without first getting used to it.
Can they??
Maybe they were setting up Base camp for others to follow.
Exploring the best route from the condo to the beach.
Getting used to driving on the left. Finding out where the stingrays live. Because it's possible stingrays are being used to bringing weapons on the island.
They drive on the left??
The stingrays are innocent??
Still… it was money well spent.
For all we know, the 4 hour trip on Baines' boat may have been the only place to hold a private meeting without someone listening in! But we are always prone to criticizing first and thinking later.
And the snorkel was a critical element in the disguise,
Wtf is wrong with you narrow minded people?! Like seriously?! After these murders happened in cayman CNS post were on fire, people crying out for help from Jamaica, UK, practically anywhere else other than here! Now finally we get someone who is considered best @ this type of this come and give RCIP's INSIGHT to what should have happened and what needs to happen from here on out! They were not brought here to take on Cayman's issues but to help the so called authorities (RCIP) with what they need to do! Cause its quite clear thatthey dont know what the hell their doing, if we need to bring in reenforcement! Theses men came here, did what they had to do, so what if they took a swim in the morning before their busy schedule?!
Please lets not forget that they were brought here by the Government and were given guildelines and schedules to follow! They didnt come here with their own agenda to follow. They did what they were told and as far as im concerned, if they felt like going for a swim b4 they went to their 9am meetings or w/e they had scheduled for them that day, has nothing to do with spending our $! Cause the last time i checked it was FREE to swim @ the beach!
We as Caymanians or to ignorant and quick to judge! get the FACTS b4 you make comments on thing you know NOTHING about!
The men had drinks…WOW big effin deal…the were "off duty" and if they wanted to have some wine so what?! How are we so sure they didnt pay for it out of their pockets? And if they didnt and Government paid for it…wth does this say about OUR government? that they allow ppl they bring in to order luxery items, such as wines and expensive foods just because we brought them in?! Open your eyes people, these men from the UK did nothing wrong, if the government allowed them to order it up and live luxuriously while they were here dont blame them, they were asked practically BEGGED to come here!
If they went swimming on their down time thats on them what they chose to do with their free time, whether it be sleep, read a book, go to the turtle farm, or for christ sake go to stingray city. For all those who dont know, it was Mr. Baines boat they went on, whilst he was OFFF duty! Now last time i checked it didnt cost government anything to run Baine's boat! Last i checked it cost Baine's directly and if he chose to take them out to stingray city out of the goodness of his heart then so be it!
We as Caymanian's need to STOP being narrow minded and stop accusing the WRONG ppl! If loads of $ was spend to accomodate these men, blame the government because im sure these men did say "i need to stay @ the ritz OR ELSE!" come on Cayman OPEN YOUR EYESSSSS!!!!
No one can help Cayman other than US Caymanians…the ppl who see crimes and say nothing the ppl who loaf around doing nothing but want to curse and carry on when nothing is being done! If you have seen something take a stand, if your afraid write an annonymous letter to the police do something, its 10000X better than knowing something and not doing anything.
Signed
Piglet
Read the full balanced story rather you cynical moutpieces just spout off.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/10/10/merseyside-police-chief-jon-murphy-s-full-statement-and-cayman-island-itinerary-100252-29567384/
Which only goes to show that there's always an official itinerary and what actually happened. Exactly the same as we had with Tempura/Cealt – one version in public and another in private.
Why do Caymanians have so much distrust against the police? Its seems a cultural thing. HHhhmmmm. You can't fix a problem that you are creating but you don't appreciate any help. Hhhhhhmmmmm. What do you as a Caymanian expect to happen as far as YOUR crime? I am an "other" and from where I sit a watch it almost seems as if Caymanians don't want to deal with any police presence on the island. Is that right? Would that make most of you happy? Hhhmmm.
Have you even been to the local police station to report a crime? I have been twice and was met by the most lethargic woman.
It seemed I was interrupting her day.
On another completely separate ocassion I reported my bicycle stoled and was laughed at. "do you really expect to get that back" was the comment. My retort was that if I did not report it, I stood zero chance of getting it back. I was laughed out of the station.
Yes Caymanians do have a problem with the police. They are unprofessional, unkempt cowards and unreliable
Now what would raise your eyebrows and elevate other things, is a report on our leaders overseas trips….. if what I hear from some of the hangers on is true, what was done by the English cops is like going to Sunday School.
The cops did what anyone would do on their off time.
I see CoP Baines claims the officers endured a '16-hour flight in economy' to get to the Cayman Islands.
An interesting comment that needs investigating because from my experience dealing with the UK police Chief Constables are automatically entitled to fly at least in business class.
'Endured"…oh come on….done that flight almost every year in 'economy' for nearly 20 years and many more throughout the world. Why do people these days always find everything to be such a 'hardship', too spoilt and toomuch coddling. For supposedly tough top cops, how 'enduring'!!!
Having flown the route many times it is never a 16 hour flight. Were they flying a prop from WWII?
With connections it can be 16 hours . Not exactly just a car ride to the grocery store.
UK police regularly fly long distances to places like Australia or New Zealand and countries closer to home like India, Pakistan or Southern Africa on drug and anti-terrorist operations but they don't hit the beach and chill out, they get off the plane and go to work.
The difference here is that the tab is being picked up by CIG not by the UK.
What I find pathetic, and nobody else seems to have cottoned on to, is the fact that 20 or so wannabe gangstas can cause such hysteria and terror that overseas so-called “experts” have to be called in by those supposedly in charge of “security” here to tell us how to deal with them. Some idiots were even calling for a US police chief to be sent for! As if he can be bothered with a handful of youths in some remote no-account islands in the middle of nowhere!
It is up to the Governor and the Attorney-General, with help from the Commissioner, to devise laws to crack down on these little gangsters once and for all, and for the police then to do so. So just roll up your sleeves, guys, get on with it and stop whining. Nobody else is going to help, unless by “help” you mean come here, go for a few swims, hold a press conference to say “you’re all doing very well” and then leave.
By the way, the Governor may be doing a good impression of wringing his hands in desperation at our plight, but has anyone heard a squeak out of the Attorney General on this or anything else? Thought not.
Cayman has an Attorney General?
You call them "wannabe gangsta's" and I'm sure that's all they are——–but——- hang on a minute, you had 5 murders in less than 10 days!!!!!!!!!!!!. I think you need all the help you can get, no matter where it comes from.
We are always whining about the crime but now that we are finally getting someone to help us solve the problem, we are whining about the people who might actually intend to help us.
So why dont we just send them back and everybody shut the f$$$ up about crime?
There is nothing really wrong with them having recreation time. Who among us works 24 hours per day?
I say give them a chance.
ANON take your blinders off for a minute and read and reread the facts that are being said. Someone is not telling the truth here and the 12 hours a day don't add up. When I used to travel on business, it was all business and then call home to make certain everyone is well and sleep from 12:;;00 to 6 A.m. Those who so chose to have leisurly time did it between those hours and better be there for breakfast @ 7:30 AM. That's how it worked in the private sector or else you were sent home early or never were invited to travel again. That's in the real world. Not acceptable from TOP BRASS UK officers here for only 4 days and give us a break about 16 hour flights !!! Operation Sushi Tempura part 2 is smelling already.
Or will they undertsand us…Look ya bobo. Look ya right shhh… yo i was . What the bloody hell did he just say?
THE TEMPURA MENTALITY IS HERE AGAIN!!
They came, they ate, they slept, they created havoc, they falsely accused, they breached our Justice of Peace confidence, they wrote their own salary cheques from a cheque book backed by the money of the Caymanian people (called the Govt account), they had their feet on their desk most of the time instead of their hands, they wined and dined like kings, they bought a boat with our money, they took advantage of the duty entrusted upon them (greater than that of Bill Clinton in the Oval Office) and shurked their responsiblities like that of any ginal. In my opinion, they stole from us!!!
Now, I'm beginning to see the same pattern and trend happening again. The same kind of people, from the same country, acting the same way, operating within the same timeframes, being paid from the same bank account and WE like freakin idiots are sitting here writing blogs rather than wirting the ………..??………aaaaah………..the ???…………..aaaaah, the…….???…………oh, we cant write anyone about this matter because, why?……..the Governor, acting in the best interest of the Queen (and her people), who is "responsible" for security for our Islands have decided to "treat their people" to an all-inclusive holiday to our Islands whilst we pay through every hole, the entire cost of their excessive, overelaborate so-called investigation.
Repeated attitudes and behaviors loudly speaks for itself. We do not need to assume, we can now presume the outcome will be the same as Tempura. History speaks for itself and has a way of repeating itself!!
I bet they don't even know where to find 'crab hole road', 'portuguese point', vern-miller's sand hole', or duck pond, anymore than they know about Slow-cum or One-eye Willie!!!
As any good landlord knows, we need to check in our properties from time to time to check that the tenants are behaving.
Re: 20 investigators on their way. No doubt these guys will work hard. My worry is about the interviews with local people. If the officers coming have those thick Northern England accents how is anyone going to understand them? Will there be translators provided?
You know what makes it even worse? This is their own people writing the stories on them. So if their own people can take undetected pictures of them, do you not think the gangs will be able to avoid them??? Lets see how long it takes them to figure that one out.
There is one major difference between these guys and Martin Bridger…. all three of them were able to swim without the aid of an inflatable ring.
This why Mac is so happy to have Baines around. Baines provides a constant stream of things that divert attention from Mac's screw ups.
Well there's your answer.
Cayman should begin promoting itself as The Vacation Desination for Police. Forget Gay cruises, etc. with the beaches full of police it will: Increase stay over tourism AND reduce crime.
How can the Governor and Commissioner let this happen after the extremely controversial op-vacation temura that cost this Island dearly? Does anybody in authority understand that the public purse is to be used for public benefit!!!
WOW!! These photos are awesome!! Its peeing rain here in England today so we cant wait to get to Cayman. Uncrowded beaches, 85 degrees, beautiful water, chillin with a few beers, nice bikinis and fantastic boats. This all looks just like paradise to me!! This is a great promotional coup for your Tourist industry. BA will have to put on extra direct flights!!! We're on our way.
Actually see very positive feature on Cayman in the Sunday Telegraph in the UK today
WEDNESDAY
7am: Mr Murphy and his two right-hand men arrive at the beach in their swimming shorts and dive straight into the Caribbean.
7.50am: After a swim and a snorkel, they towel off.
8.15am: Breakfast.
9am: Mr Murphy is driven from the hotel by a senior officer from the local Royal Cayman Island Police Service.
9.35am: Mr Murphy’s two colleagues drive themselves from the hotel in a hire car.
4pm: Mr Murphy is back at the hotel and immediately back on his sun lounger. A few minutes later, he is joined by his two fellow officers. Mr Murphy snorkels for 15 minutes, then continues to sunbathe.
5pm: Heavy tropical shower forces all three to return to their rooms.
6.45pm: Bar meeting followed by dinner.
THURSDAY
8am: Chief Constable Murphy arrives for breakfast and dines alone.
8.40am: 40minute meeting in the hotel lobby.
9.45am: Arrives on the beach and sunbathes on a lounger until 11.02am before going back to room.
Noon: Leaves the hotel with Det Chief Supt Doherty.
1.19pm: Mr Murphy is back on the beach. Both his colleagues join him five minutes later.
1.53pm: Trio leave the beach in their swimming shorts and walk straight to a hire car.
2.10pm: Board a small speedboat, which, after a coolbox has been loaded onboard, set off. They go straight to a sandbar and snorkel in an area renowned for its giant stingrays. After 45 minutes, they move to a coral reef.
6.12pm: The trio return to their hotel before heading for the bar.
7.40pm: They leave for a nearby Italianrestaurant. After a £223 meal, which included bottles of Californian Pinot Noir and New Zealand Sauvignon, they return to their hotel at 10.20pm – and go straight to bed.
I want to know how many hours they worked while they were here. What did they accomplish? Weren't they suppose to get the murderers . You know, look at evidence, talk to gangsters? How much are we paying them per hour? Does that include food and transport too? If we didn't get value for money we need to get our money back or pay for the hours they worked isn't that fair?
I guess a Caymanian doing the same thing in the UK would be told by UK officers it was unfair. So why is there any difference here. We need to bring back Caymanian officers back into the force. We never had this problem until we hired foreigners. Sorry Mr. Expat I don't want to hurt your feelings. But you all are not better then we are.
We accomplished more crime fighting with less police then with all that we have now.
Why are we wasting our money bringing these dudes here in the first place. Afterall, when the UK had the recent riot in London they turned to the US for help.
Let's turn to the US for assistance – the British is a joke!
See how they screwed up the last investigation. What makes us think that anything will be any better.
The current chief needs to go home now and give some body else an opportunity to try and sort out this mess for us becaue its out of his league.
@ 13:39 Anonymous – To raise up Independence on this issue is callous and just shows your mentality. I am pretty sure that another soveriegn territory would do a better job than what the UK has done and is doing to the overseas territories. The British means nothing to islanders who are being looked down on as natives by many in your ranks. I suggest if you want to turn this issue into an Independence one as a threat to our welfare, you bring it up to the UK Parliament and House of Lords, and see what they think about letting the overseas territories go. Because I can tell you, 20 years now, and they are still reluctant in causing Independence to happen. It is only when they have got and sucked all they can suck, is when they will push us into Independence. Hmmm… angry at the comments made here, you must be one of them.
I do not think '13:39 anonymous' has raised up anything that is not already being openly talked about and to a certain degree, prepared for.
Why do you think senior members of the legal community have already bailed or are in the process of moving to other jurasdictions?
Count the properties for sale on South Sound and tell me who they belong to?
Count the number of rental properties that are on Ecay and let me know why they just ain't being occupied?
Count the number of new offices opened in other jurasdictions by existing firms in Cayman, so that the movement of staff is seamless and an easy transition.
Look at the number of buildings that are down town and being left vacant or even, not moved into by large, existing businesses.
The UK doesn't need to impose Independence or even bring it up in the House of Commons or Lords.
It is far easier to sit back and watch the Islands 'bump and grind' their way crassly to the same result.
This my friend, is the threat to your welfare and twenty years from now, I really don't want to think about it.
Thanks for the reassurance but I ain't buying it …. you are going to have to drive the subject underground another way if you want it buried! lol.
Why do we need "specialists" from the UK? We have officers and we have the best money can buy "Baines".
Sir if you cannot lead your officers to do their job, then I suggest you bow your head and leave.
We need someone with backbone and balls.
Well said! This is already a disgrace. Why wouldn't these 'experts' have the good sense to spend the week working all hours and eating hubmle pie? What a disgrace. It just goes to show the contempt with which Baines views your country, to endorse this behaviour. That is NOT a man who is committed to staying. You can't get him out, he does four years, then retires. Job done.
As a serving English bobby, I am disgusted and ashamed to be associated with this.
Fools
Party on!
Re: CNS Note: Firstly, one could hardly class it as a "news event". Secondly, I would love to see the legal definition of "recognised news organisation".
Ah, the vaguaries of life….
CNS: It says "news assignment".
I do not like that picture of him. It looks like a dolphin.
try to be politically correct, you meant Porpoises
So what’s new?
I wonder if Jon Murphy has spoiled his own career ambitions. There was talk of his potential to be appointed Deputy Commissioner of Scotland Yard!
Funny how its so easy for people to point out others error and they don't see their own wrongs. These men have just arrived and whose to say when their contract officially started. Before any one (namely thie uk article) writes or gives their oppion, I would recommend that they do a proper analysis over more than just 2 days. Give the men a change to prove themself.
"working my nuts of" my back foot..they knew full well they were coming here here on a beach holiday, remember the dude in charge even volunteered to come with being asked.
Funny. A trio of UK gangsters investigating Cayman gangs. With all that has been going on here how did CoP Baines find it possible to take a day off to go boating with his mates. I trust he took a day's vacation leave. Police HR please confirm. The leaders of this country need to call for Baines' immediate removal. He hasn't achieve anything since he arrived. With his nice sleek boat he is more about enjoying his long term vacation in the Caribbean that in fighting crime and making Cayman a safer place. Next time, try a Cariibean CoP, the UK ones consistently fall short and to add insult to injury they are really not very smart. These sort of pictures 3 weeks after 5 murders in 8 days.
There is nothing wrong with the UK top cops enjoying the Sea, Sand & sun while on the trip to tell us how to tackle crime. Our hospitality goes along way.But let us wait to see what will be the out come of their advice.We asked that scotlandyard, Jamaica defence force and you name it, to come help us.OOOPPPPPS's so sad they got caught.
David Baines NEEDS to go now, along with most of the rest of the British force!
Yeah, I suppose nothing wrong with. "We took a boat trip with the commissioner of police, it was part of the programme they laid on for us. It was unsolicited, the whole trip has been paid for by the Cayman police, it cost nothing to the public of Merseyside." From SkyNews
Hard tax dollars at work!
CNS: Note on the Mac, sometimes Captch doesn't come up PLEASE publish.
CNS: The Captcha code only appears now if the system flags the post as possible spam – it makes no difference whether you use a Mac or PC. If it identifes spam it will reject the posting and I will not see it at all. Any comment that goes into the approval queue will be published or not depending on content — nothing at all to do with the Captcha, which is purely to check whether you are a human or a spam bot. Can you please stop adding this note to your comments.
We nah seen nothing yet, wait til the the other 20 get here wasted that 4 Million. Poor Caymanians cant win for losing.
SO WHAT?!!! I guess Caymanian hospitality has gone out the window too! In years gone by VIPs (new on the Islands to work)/vistors have been given a taste of the best of Cayman, so what's wrong with the chief showing the best of Cayman to them before they start the nasty work of finding and digging out these gang bangers?
If this is something they were doing three weeks after getting here and the gang bangers were out there shooting up the place then, yes, I would have a problem with these photos.
This just goes to show how far we as a people have fallen which is very sad!! XXXX
Give me a break!
I totally agree. These people are so ignorant and selfish that they are so quick to condemn. You know that is so funny, if it were them they would be doing the very thing these men are doing. Allow them to learn about the island abit. Let them appreciate what the Caymanians take for granted, then let them get to work once they have taken it all in. My Goddness these people sicken me. They are all ignorant!!!
Have you forgotten that this is paid for out of the public purse? It simply is wrong for it to be used in this way. People are struggling to pay bills, salaries have been cut. When we see the premier go on so many overseas trips and now we are providing free vacations for people already earning over 165K per annum it is sickening. They were not here to enjoy themselves they were here to work, but if can take two days out of a four day trip, I dont see muich work being done.
I thought the country had no money, broke, nadda??? Civil servants have done without…but wait lets give the useless UK cops a vacation to the cayman islands, cause our police force are just to stupid and lazy to do the job they were hired to do!!
OK, what'e even funnier is that after we the public have the photos as evidence. Extract from the DailyMail:-
David Baines, Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Island Police Service, said all three officers had on average worked 12 hours a day.
He said: "I think it's a travesty that it's being presented in the way that it is."
He added that "it's not surprising" that the officers "took advantage of the Caribbean sea" when they had the chance and went on the beach before they started work.
Jon Murphy said; again extract from DailyMail article:-
Arriving back at Heathrow airport Chief Con Murphy denied any wrongdoing: "Clearly an undercover journalist from the Mail has spent three days spying on us in another country. I suspect without the proper visa and authority to do that but I can't say that for certain.
"He's followed us into restaurants and seen us pay for meals out of our own pocket. I'm not sure what the story is.
"We took a boat trip with the commissioner of police, it was part of the programme they laid on for us. It was unsolicited, the whole trip has been paid for by the Cayman police, it cost nothing to the public of Merseyside.
"Frankly I don't see what the story is and I've got nothing else to say."
Clearly neither thinks this is unethical, so I guess we the small minded people of Cayman shouldn't either. When is it going to stop, when are we going to realise that David Baines does not have the best interest of the people of the these islands at heart. When will the nepotism stop? He's just taking all the money and offering his pals a piece of the pie. XXX We are therefore stuck with him until his contract has expired! I hope we can at least demand that he does some real work in the mean time.
Its such a shame.
I am sorry to disappoint you guys but this has been going on a long time . Every time one of these so-call expert come from the UK a big explosive public relation speech is made on the electronic media and in the print media extolling their expertise and when they come it is a Caribbean sea and sun holiday.
XXXX
Cayman's public is too unsuspecting and trusting when these people come here. Once they open their mouth ,we are swept off our feet. So I am glad that the Mail reporter was shadowing them to document their facade. Its a network of the old boys . Once I go boys I will remember you. Yea right.
The decision was Baine's to bring them down here, not the Cayman public. We don't have much say in these things.
Quote from the mail
Asked was it really necessary for a chief constable to make the journey himself, Mr Murphy said: 'I was not prepared to ask my men to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself.'
It's not like they are being asked to go into battle! Why was it neccessary for a Chief Constable and two senior officers to come out.
Explain Mr Murphy how many statements you took out here, people you questioned, arrested or actually physically assisted with the incident room. THAT is what your people are being asked out here to do.
On the Sky report, he states the full cost was met by the Cayman Police. Does that include the 5 days of your salary, I suspect not, so the people of Merseyside have a valid question to ask.
Was there a major holdup, bank heist or homeinvasion while they were on Cayman?
No!
Just the thought of these alert, XXXX and specially trained officers being on island deterred the criminal element.
Money well spent.
Cayman should invite the entire UK police force for a vacation.
No, you were ok. But ask how many there were back here in Liverpool!
These English men are jokers. The spate in viloence should not be credited to them.
How would they have impacted crime in their short time here, when they themselves spent more than 3/4 of their time enjoying themselves.
The gangs are simply lying low until they can come up with another strategy for their gang activities, they are not afraid of the police. If there was no crime during the English cops presence, it was because the gangs had another agenda.
I could see why they would say that the police is doing a good job as the time spent here was utilized to sunbathe and soak up a few rays with a very accomodating Police Chief.
They don't have a clue as to how inept our Royal Police Service really is.
I would say good things of my host as well if he treated me so royally.
I think a protest should take place calling for the commissioner to resign.
I wish protests actually accomplished something.
I would think the commisioner would want to resign. Who would WANT to work for you? Best thing for everyone is for Caymanians to do the work yourselves and take some responsibility for what Cayman has become and will be. Its your island. Instead of looking at what "others" are doing for you you should be looking at what "YOU" the Caymanian is doing for the future of Cayman. What do you see?
Caymanians want to reap what others sow.
Thats not the way it works.
You only reap what you only sow.
And this being the case, what are we paying the hefty salary to the commissioner for? It's not like he's volunteering!
Caymanians, having read this lot I can see you desperately need independence- GO FOR IT!.
P.S. Don't forget you all need to hand back your UK passports first.
I dread independence, but any day annex us to the U.S. and Canada, and they will do a better job, smirnoff!
And get your resumes ready when all the financial services businesses close.
No Offence this is a bunch of BS the press has gone mad now trying to make a something out of nothing, the question should be asked about the laws broken by the Jouralist spying on the officers and if they had a work permit to operate in cayman, I normally back the press in full but come on find something else to report, also CNS maybe you should mention the time spent on the beach was during there free time.
CNS Note: From the Department of Immigration website – one of the activities that is exempted from the work permit requirements is "the covering of a specific news assignment as a newspaper, magazine, radio or television journalist representing a recognised news organisation."
So I guess this is best described as "Aggressive Intelligence Led Policing" at it's best……….. and taught at Bramshill in the UK !!!!!
I'm hearing that the "Junior Command Course" in Jamaica which many Caymanian RCIPS Inspectors have attended and which has been strongly recognized over the years by many other police forces from all over the Caribbean; the RCIPS apparently will no longer be sending it's Inspectors for training there. Would this new move have anything to do with a certain UK officer failing this particular course in Jamaica ???
I suggest that the Auditor General look into this prior to any payment being made by CI Government.
Oh, come on.
The officers may have been exhausted by their trip.
We all know that government employees never work more than one quarter of time they word, and probably a lot less than that.
So what's wrong with these hard working crime experts having a little paid holiday?
We've seen this movie before. Why does Cayman make the same mistakes over and over?
Learn from the past!
Uh, wasn't there a scandal in recent history about UK cops coming here to do serious work only to spend half their time frolicking on Seven Mile Beach and then get busted on the pages of a UK paper?
Just how stupid are we?
Very!
Caymanians, Expats and all who love this island.
Let us not kid ourselves any longer.
The Governor can't get it done. Baines can't get it done. The $11 million BUCKS stop wit them.
The public must demand a FULL and COMPLETE account of every hour and every cent spent on this consultancy.
The Auditor General should be investigating this. Alicia Keys came to entertain and it was the best entertainment ever seen by Caymanians.
These UK Cops came, allegedly to help to stop the greatest crime wave in our history.
Which one of these lived up to their billing? By the looks of it, Alicia Keys by a mile. A full and complete investigation is required. The public must see if what the public purse has been charged for when these guys are toasting their scones.
This is sickening, disappointing and frustrating when we know we can get real help from real police who deal with real gangs. The inferiority complex displayed by these weak leaders who refuse help from outside of the UK must end.
Keep exposing their inept corruption CNS and lets get the Auditor General digging into this one. Don't be surprised if the Governor and Baines get recalled over this. If the PPM and UDP had any sense they would demand their resignations immediately
There is no one to blame for these actions and events in Cayman except your selves. You have neglected to help and look out for your fellow Caymanian because of your pride,vanity and ignorance.(Some not all)
Once America falls so does Cayman and even other European countries to follow. Look at some of our close neighbours that have a bit of vision.They have gone to other South and central American countries and have secured deals and routes to try and offset the decline in US tourism. Has Cayman done so? All our leader wants to do is build a huge nice looking shop – but who and where are the customers going to come from?
Has Cayman looked at expanding the runway as no.1 priority since 2000 when the first scare tactic came with Y2K? NO
All or government is doing is looking at cruise ship arrivals,in whos best interest ?( the Kirks and Dart) A cruise ship passenger spends 300-400US on a 7 day cruise. The whole system is just bad and getting worst with economy and crime. I am not an expat, I am Caymanian and not afraid to tell it like how it is!!! We are becoming the Indians in our own country and what do expect to happen. Go down without a fight?
I wish the press would follow the MLA's for a day to see what they do…………………… After all they probably get paid a lot more than these men and seem to do a whole lot less. Hold on, they do get up early for the radio show stint I suppose, take that back….
Where was the Canadian consultant? Working perhaps?
…Working his Nuts Off, remember?
Here we go again a next set of cops on our island which will lead to a 3 year vecation, the cycle keeps repeating it's self, while our own country men being push aside. Why 20 ???? now need for 20. That means no recruitment/promotions for caymanians. I'm sure I read some where a few weeks ago " We will use our resources from with in training etc" or that was just a H-wash ?.
Is this any surprise??!! See how "Mother" views us!
well i guess the 13 gangs in cayman are more of a challenge than the 171 gangs in the uk
I can see more money heading your way soon Judge Henderson…..
I wish they'd track our honorable premier for a week or two.
I dont think we should be so hard on these cops. After coming out of cold England they need a few trips in the sea to thaw out, and a few days in the sun to tropicalize their complexion.
Has anyone ever heard of jet lack? Before we jump to conclusions, let us determine when did they arrive? It is normal for at least a 24 hour break after such a long trip if one is to contribute to a meeting intelligently or to perform actual work. When I used to travel a lot a sea bath was a good destresser after travel.
Now if they travelled first class then that would be a different matter, but we dont know do we.
Lets do an FOILOL.
Stupidnous! We all know there is nothing to do on the islands, so they are welcome to downtime. How many have you flown a long haul?
The thing that disturbs me the most is that these guys are supposedly the best of the best that the UK has to offer in regards to police work, yet they were unable to realize that they were being tailed for the duration of their trip.
Baines, next time – use Skype eh!?
Oh bollocks! They caught us mate! Well no worries, we didn’t do anything wrong. We were just helping the good ol’ Commissioner chap to spend the millions he just got!
Such a STINKING SHAME… My brain can't take any more of this SHITE… Just shoot me and get me over this!!
Holyyy crapazola!!
I don't know who has more time on their hands the press or the cops.
Besides that, didn't you all know that that is where all the gangstas are: in the sea. Maybe they were trying to catch the guys that drop off drugs. The stingrays just got in the way.
And the beach thing well, didn't you all know that's where them de robberies occur? The eye candy sort of got in the way.
As for the drinks, hello it's the Caribbean. They were trying to blend in with the locals.
Ok, I think that covers my report.
really and truly i dont know why cayman continues to waste the islands funds on these people for! first of all, anyone that is here on a serios note WILL NOT BE SEEN hanging around chilling as if they on freakin vacation, u were brought down here on BUSINESS PURPOSES not Pleasure! get ur damn acts put together man. furthermore the gov should have taken that wasted money, yes wasted money on them useless officers and have put it to more use, like TRAIN YOUR OWN CAYMAN PEOPLE to get the job done. this island has a lot of potential and talented people but they are not given that opportunity in order to succeed. They jus bringing in all these (not all but some) prejududice austrailaians, canadians here who…do not look out to better our island or for our best interests. Come on now! the signs is all around us! we as caymanians and those who been here for years and are considered caymanian need to start putting our foot down and having our voices heard! this is gettin too ridiculas now man!
Only in Cayman!
When will we ever learn that we have to clean up our own sh%t and stop depending on outside experts to do it for us!!!
Hell, what did we expect?! These guys to come here and work 24/7 and not take time out to enjoy the beach.
Hech, their first cousin, Martin Bridger, might have told them where best to go on seven mile beach.
More "value for dollar"
Disgraceful, there are a lot of people in the RCIPS working their 'nuts off' at the moment (male and female, just a term of speech). This does nothing to make those of us in the RCIPS, including all the ex pats, feel inspired. We welcome the additional ofiicers that we know will work their nuts off, (especially now!), but to have three senior officers who have not even got their own house in order come along for two days "work" and two days doing what the rest of us spend six days a week working for is just an insult. The Deputy Commisioner who brought them here should be ashamed!
The RCIPS is working hard at the coal face at the moment, give us that credit, and at least repay some of your accomodation costs for your two days work. I bet they also travelled business class! Thanks a bunch for knocking us back!!
It looks more like the current CoP bringing his mates over for a jolly than a crime busting initiative.
Incidentally, at their ranks they are 'entitled' to travel business class, possibly first class for a Chief Constable.
LOL, I wonder what other little perks the people of the Cayman islands have just been stung for.
In the meantime, crime back in the good old UK goes on as normal.
There is absolutely no excuse for this happening, AGAIN!!! When have we ever gotten real help from the UK "specialist"? For god sake, a hand full of college students had the whole place up there under siege for a few weeks recently. Why couldnt their expertise resolve that situation before the whole place got destroyed and burned flat. People, we have been, once again, taken for fools!!!
I listened to the CoP and the other "expert" blokes on the radio on Friday and i did not hear one single thing they identified or recommended that we did not already know. The Chief Constable's claim to fame is some report he did about 5 years ago identifying drugs, guns,eduction and poor family environment as being the main cause of gang crimes. WOW!!! That is just as eye-opening as when the CoP broke the new to us that the Cayman Islands was being used as a transhipment area for drugs?
Those of us who think that the "mother country" is looking out for us should take a step back and take a few minutes to remember the assistance we have received so far. We dont have to go too far back, just start in Sept. 2004, remember all the help we got after Ivan? We got about $200,000.00 and the good fortune to see a Royal Navy ship a few miles off shore and see a helicopter flying over head. More recently remember how the helped us get rid of over 12 million dollars during the SPIT Investigations? They also helped a few Caymanian Officers lose their jobs and tarnish their reputations.
The sad part of this whole thing is that although we tend to blame the Govt for allowing these attrocities to occur, and we are constantly demanding they do something about it, there is absolutely nothing they can do. Remember when the past Govt refused to give the police additional funding what happened? The Governor himself came down and directed the funds be released. How can we the people or the Govt control that. It is blatently obvious that everything that happens here in regards to our infrastructure remaining stable, civil unrest, uncontrolled crime, no arrest and no court convictions is all part of a plan to bring us to our knees and ruin us as a safe, stable financial jusisdiction. For the UK to survive they must do everything neccessary to make sure that places like Guernsey and London remain the center and leader in their financial kingdom. We (our lifestyle and quality of life) are regarded as nothing more than collateral damage.
It boils down to this; we have to stand together and realize that regardless of what side of the political fence we are on, we need to stand together. We are our only allies. This mess we are in is a lot bigger than UDP or PPM and we are but little small fish in a big pond, and the UK is setting out a net……
What did they really expect to happen? I think that the Daily Mail too wanted a vacation trip as in order to follow the UK cops around to Stingray City and the like, they too would have been cruising around in boatsin the sun!
Looks like the number of gangs in Cayman is on the rise!!!
Busted!
The commissioner should be ashamed of himself bringing these people in. They have no respect for the Cayman Islands as you can see from the picture itself. But as usual we wil keep taking it and the shovel gets bigger and bigger~!!!
Yes, why not a fully paid one week HOLIDAY for scousers in the wonderful UK territory of the Cayman Islands for RUM, FUN and plenty of SUN !
Dare I mention at the local taxpayers expense. Plus soon to return again once they go back to pack their bags secure their belongings and let their house.
It's sad that all the comments seem to be negative. Does McKeeva work 24 hours a day when he travels overseas?, do the local Cops work 24 hours a day, does the Governor work 24 hours a day?. Everyone has the right to some time off. Why not wait and pass judgement after they have done what they came out to do. Just remember that you had 5!!, yes 5 murders in a very short space of time. In percentage of population terms that's an horrific figure.
Here we go again. Do we at least know who is in charge of approving their expenses?
LOL… Thank you CNS! A thousand words in just one shot! They come here, we the taxpayers have to pay for them, and after their wonderful vacation under our sun, have a following of stupid loyalists, bragging about how they are better than the local officers… this and that… It is just pathetic! With all due respect, you have good UK officers, but the ones that come up here, only have their own agenda in mind – no thought for the people. It is time to hire real seasoned officers from Jamaica and the United States! Jamaica has officers who deal with murders every day that would make an Oxford UK graduate look dumb on a crime scene.
I have just one thing to say – you are not "taxpayers"! There is no direct tax and all the other items are called "duties". So you are not taxpers. And please will people stop saying you are.
Every time you buy a product of any description, you are paying a tax – simple. So we are taxpayers, just not through our salary
Don’t lift the stingrays out of the water..
So what’s wrong with them enjoying some of what the island has to offer. I don’t see a problem with this although a bigger issue I have with this is the low life journalist who followed their every move. I would warrant a lot of what is written is false as the journalist even appears to know when they all went to bed. Is this really news CNS or just another opportunity to try embarrass the RCIPS? I would expect this from the Daily Mail but didn’t know we were stooping to that level too.
You don't see a problem with them taking time out on a FOUR day visit. This was a working assigment not a vacation. I see everything wrong with it. It is another example of the RCIP leadership incompetence. I believe this was nothing more than a deal sweetener for them to come here and land some top overpaid job.
Couldn't agree more. The British press are liars. Nothing more, nothing less. They wouldn't knowthe truth if it jumped up and bit them on the nose!!
here we go again, woohoo another caribean vacation paid for by the simple folk.
I am totally disappointed in this a$$ of a commissioner we have after reading this. And I wonder just how much money was spent entertaining these guys just for a stupid pat on the back rcips press briefing. Resign David Baines Resign now
AGAIN!!!!!
"Keeping an eye out for suspects" – I love it!
Ok. Picturescan be painted to tell a story that may not be fact……………….but with the increase in crime, you cannot sell that ANY TIME spent on such a short trip, that was a business trip to advise the RCIP on matters of murder and gang violence should have been spent on the beach. One would think and you do not have to be a great British Law Man Dectective to know that the slightest hint of a repeat of the last group of TOP COPS from the UK is going to ruffle people's feathers – and rightfully so with the HUGE TAB THAT TEH CI GOV. has and will keep paying. This is a slap in the face to the community. We the people have payed the trips for three experts to advise and it appears they spent at least half the time like a tourist. This should not be tolerated and to top it off they used Baines's boat. The Police and UK seem to appear to look at the Cayman Islands people as subservant little monkies from there old ruling days.
People are getting murdered, tourists are being advised not to come and the solutuion is to bring in three guys from the UK to hang out on the beach.
Don't know what's wrong with them having fun on the public purse. Its no more than our own ministers and hangers-on do when they go off island…
Looks like we heading towards another "Tempura"
Could we please have these guys follow our beloved leader (and other associates) and report on his 'antics' abroad. Can anyone even imagine if our local papers had the resources (and chutzpah) to do such a thing?!?
If ony we knew…and yet, better we don't…
CNS: We definitely have the chutzpah but not, sadly, the resources …....
dang CNS I was about to ask for an all expense trip paid to China and write a minute by minute account of the Premier's itinerary. I promise to not look at the Great Wall of China.
What’s all the fuss about? These guys are trained professionals. I’m sure what appears to be a blatant “kiss our tanned bottoms” to the people of these islands, is actually a strategy to become one with the lowlife thugs/bums they were sent here to assist in eradicating. Wasting government time, government money, government resources, drinking, “bumming” it up on the beach, XXXX are all activities our resident thugs participate in regularly. Yes it is a strategy, after all they had Mr. Baines with them for some of their work, XXXX. Now, let’s let these fine chaps get on with working their “nuts off”. Pax Vobiscom
Oh Dear, here we go again. Part 2 of a big waste of money at our expense. The Daily Mail and their large audience will definatly be able to see the big loke we are all about. And the premier dodging the bullet from PAC in Purto Rico. He did not have to go that far but hey were paying for it and then the Bad news on his return. The Chinese are coming and will not only build the dock(thats good) but will also manage it. (that's bad). Getting really fed up of all this crap…. A concerned Caymanian and many more.
Duncan Taylor, Baines and McKeeva, can we give the Los Angeles Top Cop a try now??? Not like it could get any worse!!!
Asusual nothing in Cayman is taken seriously, these jokers came here to enjoy themselves and get a good laugh at the stupid islanders. Our young men are killing themselves, our best cops are overworked and underpaid and these assh**** come here and have a good drink up and vacation. I wonder when was the last time Marlon Bodden had a private moment to sleep much less go sunbathing. But so it go Cayman. The UK is effectively carrying out its mission of destroying these islands before they turn us loose. They will never leave us in a position where we can survive alone. They are systematically destroying us from within with ineffective policies, stupid waste of money on resources we do not need, and they are withholding resources we do need. Why is it that for a population of 60,000 we are unable to effectively police these islands? The answer is they do not want us to. They want us to destroy ourselves, and get to the point where we do not attract business, tourist foreign workers, and our dollar is devalued. Then they will turn us loose. This order goes to the highest level of the FCO so go on thinking all of this is happening by coincidence. We are ruled by corruption, and criminals are running the show….this is how we will go down in history unless we stand up and act now…We need a real leader to emerge and unfortunately Alden, Ezzard and Mac are not up for the job!
But I soon come!
Are these people stupid??? Is Baines just plain stupid??? Didn't they think that there was a STRONG possibility that the media and everyone else was going to be watching these guys???
My only hope is that Baines is as embarrassed as these guys should be and that he finally comes down off his arrogant pedestal.
As a visiting consultant myself, sometimes with one or two others, I often find myself with unexpected down time due to cancelled meetings. I use this time working on reports, and contacting alternative sources. My consultant colleagues and I might meet for dinner after hours, but we still have our laptops and notebooks, and discuss the project. Most of us just want to get the job done and get home to our families. This does, indeed, look like an "old boys junket".
Will there be a report issued and on whose time is it being written? Whoever contracted this out must have given them implicit permission to view their task as a low priority excuse for a holiday. It appears to be a reward and payback for some old buddies. It peeves me no end that they make the rest of us look bad.
Too bad the CI press doesn't have the financial resources to follow the Premier on his trips…..er…even to find out where he is right now!
Bains Fool you guys again with pretty speeches
Well. did anyone really expect anything different??? I certainly did not, but now have to work my nuts off to pay for it.
LMAO!
We are so gullible! And of course one of them will return to replace the current UK Chief superintendent who will have to leave the RCIP (NO) Service TO KEEP THE LOCAL LADS FROM BEING PROMOTED.
.
What else would the Daily Mirror expect? You know how hard it is for an English Police Officer in the Caribbean, where the Police can't protect a business 200 feet from their own Head Quarters?
Exactly right, yet we continue to do the same thing. Forget Miami, Toronto, New York..let's bring in the mother country over and over and over again until NOTHING is left!
Yes, I am an expat and think as you do that you should have your OWN police force. Forget this crazyness. The UK has left every other Caribbean Island in shambles, history is powerful!
CNS: Please note Captch does not always come up on the Mac. Would appreciate you publishing.
CNS: The Captcha code only appears now if the system flags the post as possible spam – it makes no difference whether you use a Mac or PC. If it identifes spam it will reject the posting and I will not see it at all. Any comment that goes into the approval queue will be published or not depending on content — nothing at all to do with the Captcha, which is purely to check whether you are a human or a spam bot. Can you please stop adding this note to your comments.
I agree and I think you should run that Police Force whilst all the other police who came here to serve the Islands watch from another, Politically stable environment!
So what are the others from elsewhere doing?
Is this news to anyone? Did we not expect this in paradise come from a gray soggy UK? I for one do not think that this is the last. Like ants attracted to fat, so are the 20 others. We will just have to pull up our socks locally and do something about crime ourselves. Thanks UK, I know you mean us well but a vacation at our expense is no fun to us, What we need is serious hard work done in the quickest time to combat a swift moving crime spree.
im english and im honestly embarrassed at these so called" experts" and" top men" coming out here and looking like a bunch of folk who have escaped from the pines.
these are "retiring" cops who are here for the jolly, i saw them at the bar too laughing and joking and knocking them back. what a wasteof caymans money. sorry guys you jusy dont "cut it" for me.
Well done!!! Tax payers dollars at hard work!! Crimes are best solved with SPF cream, coladas, water sports and sun bathing!! Don't under estimate the power the brain has when it is fully relaxed!!!
This just goes to show what I've been saying for many years. We need to bring in experts from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad to help us with these crimes as they have ALL these problems and more in their own countries and they don't have any motivation to enjoy the Caribbean climate so they will do their work. Interesting that the Commissioner has a boat. Did he have one when he was working in the UK?
BTW, let us not think the Daily Mail is a responsible newspaper which is worried about our taxpayer dollars paying for these cops. It just like to paint us as the tropical island of millionaires with crime rampant in its midst while we all busily launder money and sell teeshirts with "The Firm" on the front to gullible tourists.
XXXXX
Yes these guys were enjoying their time off work, as we all do and I don't see anyone else getting grief for going to the beach.
Lets be fair we've all been overseas on a work 'conference' or similar and ended up on the lash for a few nights. Come on.
Funny though!
The Commissioner of Police and the Governor must step down now!!!
How, Dennie? What are the steps that we, the people, need to do to make this happen?
The only way I know of getting rid of a Governor and by extension the "Top Cop" is to declare independence….
Contact your MLA’s expressing your displeasure and what you want done about it. I have lost all confidence in the Commissioner of Police and the Governor. They should both resign.
umm, why?
Maybe the mudering gang bangers were hanging out at the beach? Perhaps it was "intelligence work"?
LMFAO
Ah, the Daily Mail, the bastion of responsible journalism, I wonder if the person taking the photos paid for a work permit on island…I guess we can ask Splash News, the photo agency that published the pics?
To be fair though, what do you want the man to do, lock himself in a hotel room or enjoy our beautiful island as it should be enjoyed and get some work done at the same time.
There's a lot of talk about how the crime situation should be handled from the very people that helped cause the epidemic, remember, these police officers were invited here as our guests to meet with officials who have limited time at their disposal, its obvious that the UK guys will have free time to spare, why didn't the Daily Mail report that fact, lazy tabloid journalism…
Cayman is still a teenager finding its feet, everyone needs to remember that. There are towns with bigger populations and bigger problems than us yet we seem to think that the world revolves around Cayman, its the other way around, step up and take responsibility Cayman!
“what do we expect the men to do?” You serious???? We have a grave situation on our hands! We expect them to do what they came here to do, WORK!!! An entire business day hardly constitutes ” free spare time”. Madness!!!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh YEahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!
That's what "these experts" are most qualified in accomplishing in the Cayman Islands !!!! (Sunshine Squad number # 2) You haven't seen nothing yet, just you wait until the next UK 16 arrive shortly. (Sunshine Squad # 3)
"MATRIX"…….. my A _ _ !!!!
Well now I do hope those Daily Mail reporters had work permits. It would be an awful crying shame if they were in contravention of the Cayman Islands Immigration Laws now wouldn't it.
Accredited journalists are exempt from work permits under the Immigration regulations (reg 11).
I bet David Baines pushes to havethat changed. Mark my words, already rumblings.