Mrs Eileene L. Baronville holds the distinction of being the first female officer of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force. Photo: VINO/File

At one time Mrs Baronville was an all-rounder in the RVIPF as she had to virtually attend to almost every matter. This she did with pride as she was determined to give of her best to her country she knew as the [British] Virgin Islands.

“I used to do everything in the police force, everything,” she told Virgin Islands News Online in an exclusive interview. “Promotions, I had to do that, giving exams, I had to do that, looking after domestic violence issues, I had to do that,” she noted while revealing that dealing with juveniles was her “baby”.

Not a smooth ride

But it was not any smooth ride for Mrs Baronville joining the police force as, even though she received the support of her family, she didn’t always receive the support of her fellow officers.

Mrs Baronville joined the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force in 1966. She recalled there was another woman who was interested in joining also but decided on getting married instead.

She said she was first encouraged to join the police force by a sister-in-law who worked as a secretary in the force. “I wasn’t even looking to be a police,” Mrs Baronville admitted, but noted that she realised it was an opportunity for her to earn a good salary.

“When I joined in 1966 I had a really hard time from the male police officers who wanted to ‘get close’ and you had to know what you want. You either stay out of their way or you get ‘touched’. I knew for a fact I had always been a proud woman and I never liked people touching me. I dreaded it. So I just had to play cool with some of them and let them know in a kind way that this [touching] is not my thing.”

Fiery Baptism

Following her return from police training in Barbados in 1967, Mrs Baronville shared that she had a fiery baptism into police work as it was during the time of tension over the controversial Bates Hill Agreement and the subsequent momentous Noel Lloyd-led 1968 Positive Action Movement March against segregation and Ken Bates' purchase of lands at Wickhams Cay and Anegada.

“Coming back here it was more hell because the people were in a rage,” said Baronville who noted that it also presented an opportunity for her to prove herself based on the training she received. Apart from that, it caused her to get some respect from fellow officers who depended on her to take the lead on any possible disruption by the masses during that tense period mainly because she was from the Virgin Islands.

“The people were going to listen to me knowing who I was, and a bully that I was. I liked it because at that time I was red hot. With the type of training you had in Barbados anytime even my mother came around you with any type of foolishness you would eat her up because I had a job to do and I would tell them that. You were in to it and the discipline was so rugged that when you came back from Barbados you just wanted to be who you trained to be.”

Baronville said there were times when she had to go deal with altercations among people and other issues as she was required to go down to Government House and follow the march and talk to the people. “Then I had to go around H. Lavity Stoutt to make sure he was well protected,” she said with a gleam of pride in her eyes.

She said she often had to literally subdue people.

Passion put to the test

The experience, however, made her realise that a police officer is what she really wanted to be. Her passion to serve as an officer would be tested on many occasions, nevertheless.

Although she didn’t go much into detail as to what was done or said to her, Mrs Baronville shared that there were times when officers were “really nasty” to her as a woman and from Tortola and tried to force her out of the job. “They were really nasty to me, in many ways.”

But she said it was a conversation with a Mary Malone who had a shop near to the police station that renewed her determination to remain. “I went over by Mary one time and cried because of how I was being treated.”

Baronville said she was deeply hurt because she felt she was doing her best to help her country but the more people made her feel they wanted her out of the force. “And Mary said you aint going nowhere. You just come and come you come to stay. I done talk to you and I don’t have anything else to say to you,” she said Mary Malone frankly told her.

Promotions

Suddenly coming alive after the memories began to rush back to her, Mrs Baronville recalled one time her sister-in-law was on leave and she was asked to hold the post as Secretary. The Chief of Police also told her superior, a Mr Williams, to give her a stripe as a corporal. However, the officer in charge of her refused and it took the Chief of Police himself to intervene and ensure that she was given her stripe and promotion to corporal.

She noted that she didn’t get another promotion until some 10 years after, which was to sergeant.

Baronville also recalled that she didn’t take it too well when after 25 years in the force she was asked to sit an examination to gain promotion. “At my age, after having to do so many things, and doing so many things for my country, I am going to sit an exam? I cried. I didn’t feel good about it. Not that I couldn’t do it.”

She wrote the exam and passed and recalled the then Commissioner, Mr Vernon E. Malone, telling her that she was the only one who correctly answered his question about dealing with a hostile crowd as an armed police officer.

Baronville recalled when H. Lavity Stoutt died and she did a “cook up”. She also recalled sleeping on the floor at the station with prisoners. She shared that she often had compassion for prisoners, especially women, and she would allow them out of their cells when her superiors were not around just so that they would feel more comfortable.

Denied UK training

One of the things, however, Mrs Baronville wanted to do and was not given the opportunity was to attend a training course in the United Kingdom. She said she was identified to go but the Commissioner did not allow her to.

“He stopped that, he actually stopped that. My superior Butchie Romney was so upset. I really wanted to see what England was about. It was a big thing for me as I had already attended some of the FBI courses around the Caribbean.”

More and more memories flowing like a stream, Mrs Baronville recalled one time she was involved in a misunderstanding with a fellow police officer who threatened to hurt her with a fire extinguisher. She said she did not wish to make a big deal about it and just wanted her superior to caution the officer, however, she was ordered to report the matter so that criminal charges could be instituted against the offending officer.

After refusing she was reported for disobeying an order from her superior. She ended up having to take a lawyer and was taken before the Chief of Police who ruled in her favour.

Final straw

The final straw for Mrs Baronville, however, was when she was handling a rape case involving a high school student and was told she had to immediately proceed on leave for six months. She felt it was heavy handedness and damaged her spirit and decided that was it for her, she was not going back.

Efforts, she said, were made to get her back in the force, including on the instruction of the Governor at the time but she was not going to be persuaded.

After some 34 years in the RVIPF, Mrs Baronville said she just felt she had enough.

Nevertheless, Mrs Baronville is proud that she always gave of her best as an officer of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force(RVIPF) because of her deep love for her country. Such is her love for it that she ran for political office on a couple of occasions but was not successful.

Today, Mrs Baronville operates the Paradise Pre-School and Day Care in Long Bush, which gives her an opportunity to still make a contribution to her beloved territory, though in a more gentle setting.