THE HAGUE–For the umpteenth time, the St. Maarten Progress Committee is urging the St. Maarten government to make large structural investments in the law enforcement system. Almost nine years after being instituted, the Plans of Approach for the Pointe Blanche prison and the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM “by far have not been realised.”
The mixed committee, comprising representatives of the Netherlands and St. Maarten, in its most recent report found it positive that the Dutch National Police Force is lending a helping hand with basic police tasks until 2020, but on the side of the St. Maarten government there is “little to no movement” to strengthen the law enforcement system.
“The Minister of Justice does nothing with our advices. The law enforcement system cannot be qualified other than being completely insufficient,” stated the Progress Committee in its third-quarter 2018 report, sent by State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops to the Dutch Parliament earlier this week.
The urgent, almost desperate tone of the committee is not new: in previous reports it has sounded a similar alarm about the state and personnel situation of the prison, the severe understaffing at KPSM and the fact that after many years government still has not determined the “function books.”
The committee is not hopeful that the Plans of Approach, which were prolonged until 2020, will be completed this term. “We see no reason to assume that the plans will be completed, not even near completion.” The report was based on the committee’s visit late October, early November 2018. The committee again visited the island late January 2019.
KPSM continues to be understaffed, even with the input of the National Police. KPSM currently consists of 166 persons, including the 32 National Police officers. When the National Police leaves per 2020, KPSM will have to carry out the police tasks on its own.
A batch of new police officers is being trained and, in the most favourable scenario, KPSM will be able to add 58 persons to the force in 2019 and 2020. This means that in this optimal situation, KPSM will have 192 police officers in 2020. This is not even close to the desired strength of 270 police officers.
“Management does what it can with the limited means, but the number of staff is not even half of what it should be, and there is no indication that the manpower will increase to the desired level in the coming years.”
The committee was also critical of the fact that the St. Maarten government still has not established the function books, “the basis for each organisation’s development.” According to the committee, the state of the police stations and the material with which KPSM has to work are “very inadequate.” “This was already the case before Hurricane Irma and has only gotten worse.”
The committee’s concerns about the Pointe Blanche prison are even greater. “The prison has not complied with the standards of safety and quality for years. Agreements to ready the prison for the return of inmates from the Netherlands and Curaçao are not complied with in time.”
The committee expects that when the some 50 inmates who were transferred abroad early November 2017 due to extensive damage Hurricane Irma caused to the prison building return, an “explosive situation will once more occur” that can lead to dangerous conditions for prison personnel, inmates and the community at large.
The multiple visits to the Pointe Blanche prison did not reassure the committee. What the committee members saw gave them even more cause for concern. Even though the outside had finally been reconstructed, an electronic security system was still lacking.
The outside security provided by the Dutch Marines ended on November 1 and it was not clear to the committee who would replace them. The guard towers are manned by unarmed private security guards. There is no re-socialisation programme for the inmates. The prison cells are leaking, decent locks are lacking and the fire alarm system does not work.
“Cells have to be mopped dry after a rain shower. The guard walks around with bunch of keys to open the padlocks because the door locks aren’t working. A lot will have to be done to make the cells somewhat inhabitable.”
According to the committee, little has been done with the agreement list St. Maarten and the Netherlands signed in October 2018, which contains a number of concrete improvement measures for the prison. In the committee’s opinion, the list can only be executed in the short term if there are sufficient finances and well-coordinated action.
The committee once more pressed for a mutual regulation between St. Maarten and the Netherlands to strengthen the law enforcement system in a structural manner with input of both countries. That mutual regulation would go beyond the agreement that was signed in October last year.
From the side of St. Maarten, this would require a big change in priorities and a large contribution in both finances and the government service. The Netherlands would have to make a substantial contribution in terms of manpower and means, stated the committee.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/85267-plans-of-approach-for-police-prison-are-far-from-realised
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