Philipsburg:--- In the very near future the Sint Maarten Police Force, will be changing their strategies on doing police work by going into "Community Policing". On Friday March 2nd at approximately 11:00am, the five senior officers that were chosen to be "Neighborhood Officers" were presented to the Minister of Justice Mr. Roland Duncan. This project is spearheaded by Police commissioner Carl John, who has been working very diligently to get this project off the ground. The officers in question are Majors H.E. ROMEO-CRISTINA, F.N. RICHARDS, E.S. JOSEPHA and brigadiers M.L.R. SIRVANIA and J.F.J. STATIE.Community Policing is a collaborate effort between a police department and community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems. It is founded on close, mutually beneficial ties between police and community members. Community policing is not soft on crime. On the contrary it can significantly improve the ability of the police to discover criminal conduct and activities, clear offenses, and make arrests.
Minister Duncan congratulated the officers and encouraged them to go out into the neighborhoods and create a communication network between private citizens, businesses, community councils, and other
organizations, to help combat crime and make these neighborhoods safer and to improve livability. Finally, the Minister wished the officers much success in the difficult task that lies ahead of them.
