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by pltm
(PLTM) - The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force continues to struggle with proper financial support from government, and this year is no different with a mere $2.3M allocated for operational expenditure. This figure is in the same region when compared to ten years ago.
This information came to light today, February 23 during the budget debate by Opposition Member, Hon. Julian Fraser.
Hon. Fraser, who expressed concern over the matter, said the police force's budget has not seen any real change in ten years.
He said that the trend is worrying and it became worse commencing 2011/2012.
The National Democratic Party (NDP) took office back in November 2011 and has been accused of not providing enough resources for the police to fight crime.
According to Hon. Fraser, during the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) deliberations, it was disclosed that police will be receiving $16.1M this year, and of that, $2.3M is allocated for operations. He looked back at 2006 where the police received $2.5M for operations.
"I am puzzled and I am sure that the rest of the Territory is also...The Commissioner of Police stated that he inherited in 2016 a budget which was $15.3M, with $13.3M in emolument, leaving $2M for managing the force operationally," Hon. Fraser lamented.
He added, "That hasn't changed because if you look at the 2017 budget, the police have now received $16.1M, and of that, only $2.3M is left for the operations."
Hon. Fraser said the trend is unfortunate and there is no explanation.
"If I go back to 2006, the police had about $2.5M for operational purposes, so you are looking at 11 years...And how do you explain after 11 years, you're operational funding is the same as it was 11 years ago. And that is the trend I am talking about...And that trend is constant within the Territory," Hon. Fraser stated.
Last week, Governor John Duncan slammed government for not investing enough into crime fighting. The Governor said that the force's budget has been cut by 46% since 2012.
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