RVIPF lacks specialist skills hence need for UK Officers- Michael Matthews
Local police lack the skills
In a question posed to Commissioner Matthews from our newsroom last week about why there are so many United Kingdom Police Officers working in the Virgin Islands (all Caucasian when there are officers of colour in the UK), Mr Matthews defended the need to have them here.
He told our newsroom that there are currently seven UK police officers in the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) inclusive of himself. However, our count from information obtained by our newsroom found 8 UK officers and not 7.
Most of the current UK Police Officers have been here some 5 years plus.
When pressed as to the need for so many UK officers in the territory, Mr Matthews was blunt in claiming that they are specialist officers employed within the RVIPF.
He said “all of the UK Officers bring specialist skills that cannot be sourced locally.”
He went on in his e-mailed response to claim that “these skills enhance the ability of the force to deal with serious crimes and strategic development. This assists the RVIPF to remain at the forefront of policing for the benefit of the local communities,” he wrote.
Discrimination in pay? Whites paid higher in RVIPF
Our investigation also unearthed that all the UK Officers in the Virgin Islands (VI), some of them retired, are making more money than all the local officers (all black) including the Deputy Commissioner of Police Alwin James.
The UK officers’ huge salaries and benefit packages are being paid for by tax payers to the tune of millions of dollars.
In response to the allegation of the big discrepancies in salaries, the new Commissioner of Police (CoP) said “the force does not determine the final pay scales of such officers who are ultimately employed by the Government of the BVI.”
In further justifying the millions of dollars paid to these UK Officers from the public purse, the CoP told our newsroom in his written response that “the remuneration must reflect the fact that each officer is employed on a relatively short term contract and they do not enjoy the benefits of full time employment such as a pension scheme.”
However, Mr Matthews failed to be transparent in telling our newsroom that some of the officers are already on UK pension while others, once they return to their own police force and retire, will earn a pension though their city or county pension schemes.
Operation Lucan big $$$$??
It was this news site that first alerted the public in a March 15, 2016 article that millions of dollars were spent to investigate corruption in the RVIPF under ‘Operation Lucan’ and no arrest had been made after over two years. Two weeks after our article, the RVIFP announced that three police officers were arrested for corruption.
Many saw the arrest as a rush to judgement and wonder why only black officers were arrested in the corruption probe.
There were also reports that to justify the over two year stretch of the UK officers working on Operation Lucan, costing millions from the public purse, the role of Operation Lucan may have been expanded to include other areas of public sector corruption.
However, Commissioner Matthews told our newsroom, “no additional tasking requests were made to Operation Lucan."
Gov Duncan a waste even to the police?
The RVIPF comes under the governor’s portfolio and the current Governor is John S. Duncan OBE. He also chairs the National Security Council. It has been reported to our newsroom by very senior Police Officers that Mr Duncan is not doing enough to support the RVIPF.
Mr Duncan has lost credibility in the VI as the appointed UK Governor of the Overseas Territory. Many residents have already called for him to be recalled and his own honesty and integrity are in question.
He was caught in a lie over what he told the media about the cabinet decision on the Claude O. Skelton-Cline contract renewal.
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26 Responses to “RVIPF lacks specialist skills hence need for UK Officers- Michael Matthews”
He said, “all of the UK Officers bring specialist skills that cannot be sourced locally.” The Caribbean and the rest of the world also exist. Superiority Complexes also exist; you only have to look at the UK Parliament.