Dear Sir,

Although I agree with Commissioner Baines that all RCIP officers do not need to be armed, I have over 18 years in law enforcement in the US and have lived in the Cayman Islands up until two years ago, and I have seen, as many have seen, our crime free country degrade into a crime spree country.

I came back on island just two weeks ago and was stopped by a roadblock in Prospect the very first night. I had proper ID, insurance card, etc. ready for the officer to view, and was waved on through. I had only gone less than a mile when I saw at least 100 people gathered in the parking lot of On The Run Esso and remarked to my passengers, “Now I wish some of the police officers were down here checking out some of these people and dispersing them”; as it is well known that in large groups sometimes our youth do things that they would not do if with family or in smaller gatherings.

Community policing is number one in deterring crime, the public assisting the police officers is the best deterrent for crime, the more eyes and ears watching out for crime; the better. I urge every person to be vigil in their neighborhoods and contact the police services with anything out of the ordinary so that our police officers can investigate and hopefully stop crime in its tracks before it gets any worse.

I do think that additional armed and properly trained armed officers are needed now, and I for one have never been to a crime scene or even a Town Hall Meeting while wearing my weapon and had any person question why I should carry a weapon. They knew I was trained to use it properly and that it was only to be used as a last resort after all else failed to protect the people and their property that I was sworn to protect.

God bless all of the men and women of all branches of the RCIPS and I thank them for all they do to protect us.

Charlie “Bubba” Roberts