THE Police Welfare Association (PWA) says it is on a mission to bring unity and professionalism to the Royal St. Lucia Police Force (RSLPF).
The unity drive was literally kickstarted on Sunday with a football match held in honour of fallen officer, Randy Abbott, who lost his life three years ago after he was involved in a motorcycle crash.
To commemorate the life of their sporty and outgoing colleague, the Force hosted its first-ever Randy Abbott Small Goals Soccerama at the La Ressource Playing Field.
The occasion was organised after the PWA, the Police Sports Club and the Police Week Committee collaborated and created the event which saw 17 teams from the different police departments and police stations, as well as the Boys Training Centre, Fire Service and Port Authority participating.
President of the PWA, Travis Chicot, said the event is one of the introductions to Police Week, which is observed in November.
Chicot said that although Police Week is months away, it is a usual occurrence to hold events months in advance to prepare all involved for the big week.
Following Sunday’s game, he said, some of the proceeds will go towards a primary school scholarship for a child in the community. This move, he said, ties in with the Force’s efforts to achieve unity and community building — both within the Force and between police officers and civilians across the island.
“This is an important time for the Police Welfare Association. It’s not all the time that we want to come out to the media on bashing conditions. It’s one of our key points because you would know that there was a call for unity and these activities will look to unify the Police Force,” he said.
On the matter of professionalism, Chicot said he was aware of the issues plaguing the Force and that the matter is high on their agenda as they long to be a professional organisation, serving the people of St. Lucia. However, he said, “Professionalism is one of our key objectives.”
“I can assure you in the days to come, this is one of the activities that you would see coming up in seminars and as we report on it, we will be having a number of seminars on professionalism, productivity and to maybe look to enhance our customer service as a RSLPF.”
The theme for this year’s Police Week is “Community Policing Begins With Me”.
