Police officers from the eastern Caribbean will begin sharing their perspectives on servicing vulnerable populations this week.
This is a part of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality‘s (ECADE) continuous police sensitisation programme. Starting from April 19, 2023, ECADE will feature cops on social media as they speak out for reforms in the legal system.
These officers were a part of a cohort that attended training in St. Georges, Grenada from February 20–22, 2023, on human rights and how they can be used in regular law enforcement. Fourteen policemen from six different nations participated in the «Caribbean Police Training – Serving Vulnerable Populations in Community Policing: A Human Rights Approach».
This was a training-of-trainers for eastern Caribbean police, organised by the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), with Raise Your Voice Saint Lucia and GrenCHAP Grenada. The British High Commission and Canadian High Commission provided further support for the project.
An officer from the Canadian Police Force joined an EGALE Canada facilitator because it was noted how important it was to have someone with experience in law enforcement engage cops. The majority of the technical assistance for ECADE’s police human rights sensitisation comes from EGALE.
Carlyn McQuilkin, permanent secretary for the Grenadian Ministry of National Security, Home Affairs, Information, and Disaster Management, welcomed everyone to the meeting. During the keynote, she spoke to the cops, telling them that it was crucial for them to maintain the law as well as enforce it. Be conscious of the influence you have inside your local communities, not just through your uniform and the positions you hold. You must contribute to closing what seems to be a never-ending chasm between the police and civil society.
Tools were available for officers of different ranks to give to other law enforcement. Overall, these police hope to increase respect for those seeking justice or for those who officers may run with while trying to defend the public. The police forces of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are urged to participate in this training by ECADE.
ECADE’s Executive Director Kenita Placide notes, «In a continually changing environment, police officers are the bastion of law and order that maintain the status quo. In so doing they meet people at their most vulnerable. This makes it imperative that officers have the knowledge and sensitivity to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, even while setting a course correction».
Victor Clarke, the resident British commissioner, Miriam Van-Nie, the political counsellor in the Canadian high commission, and Catherine Sealy, the founder of Raise Your Voice, Saint Lucia, all spoke at the opening.
Due to constitutional challenges backed by ECADE, three eastern Caribbean nations overturned discriminatory sexual offence laws in 2022. To be effective, these legal changes need to be supported by knowledge of how the administration of justice affects everyone’s human rights. By offering this and comparable trainings, ECADE continues to work towards reaching this goal.
