Newly appointed Chief of Police Davidson Valerie says he looks forward to working with the rank and file of the police force and the general public and will execute his duties “without fear, favour, malice or ill-will.”
Valerie succeeds Daniel Carbon as Chief of Police (COP) and will act in the post until March 31, 2024.
Speaking to the press in his new capacity as COP, he stated that after 37 years as a police officer, he has held every post in the police force and thanked the “powers that be for placing the confidence in him.”
“I look forward to working with the rank and file of the police force and to provide safety and security to the government and people of Dominica and will execute my functions as Chief of Police without fear, favour, malice or ill-will and to the best of my ability,” he said.
He continued, “I will seek to deal with matters urgently, I will implement and reintroduce several activities to foster and enhance team spirit in the organization.”
Valerie also said that he will implement measures to improve the time taken to deal with reports by the public.
“Police officers will be made to respond in a more timely way to reports and also the quality of the responses must be considered when we respond to reports,” the acting COP stated.
Valerie also promised to improve the presence of uniform police officers on the streets doing patrols to as he stated, “raid the streets of guns, ammunitions, and violence.”
“I will continue the police community outreach programme…as we aim to meet others in the community as I believe that it will help build back the public’s confidence in the police,” he remarked.
He called on the public to continue to “support and work with the police” in their effort to “combat crime and violence and to maintain Dominica as a safe and secure place.”
“I look forward to having regular dialogue with the media on issues relating to policing and law enforcement activities in Dominica,” he said.
On the issue of the opening of carnival activities in Dominica on January 6, 2024, the COP (acting) said that they are committed to policing this event to ensure an incident-free event.
Valerie also gave a commitment that he will be meeting with the executive of the Police Welfare Association (PWA) the main bargaining agent for police officers.
“The support of the PWA, along with the rank and file of the police force that includes constables and gazette officers is critical in bringing back the level of camaraderie into the police force.”
On the issue of the missing firearms at the St. Joseph Police Station, he confirmed that “the investigations into the matter continues and civilians as well as police officers have been questioned as the probe continues.”
“The missing firearms are yet to be covered…but we are doing the necessary and I am confident the officers assigned will do their best and we will get results, police officers have been brought in, some members of the public have been questioned and I am confident that we will achieve some results in this matter,” he stated.
As COP. will you be telling the press how many passports you have travelled overseas to delivered.
Also, the spying on other police officer to reach where you are.
when we de public call de police for support what do we get?
you need us more than we need you now?