(CNS): The RCIPS has seized a firearm in the Cayman Islands that was used in at least five murders in Jamaica, according to Police Commissioner Derek Byrne. Speaking to the local press on Wednesday, less than a week before he leaves the post, Byrne said one of the many enhancements he has presided over during the last seven years was the development of ballistics, and Cayman is now a regional hub for firearms forensics.
Since he took over the reins of the RCIPS, Byrne has presided over the most significant budgets in its history. But he told CNS that much has been done to make the service more professional, and the government has been very supportive of the security agenda.
He pointed to the development of various new departments, the acquisition of two state-of-the-art helicopters, the creation of the coastguard, dealing with the changing face of crime such as cyber scams and financial crime, the investment in dealing with child and domestic abuse, the professionalisation of the police and the development of forensic science work, including ballistics. All of this costs money, so it is not surprising that the budget has increased, he said.
But Byrne said that the enhancements of the service had led to significant successes, such as connecting this gun, which had made its way here and is now part of a major investigation, with the five killings in Jamaica dating back to 2019. He said that the relationship with Jamaica remains very important as this is where many of the guns found here originate, as well as being a source for most of the ganja and other drug shipments.
Over the last seven years, Byrne has presided over some serious crime spikes, including gun-related offences. But during his tenure, he has consistently argued that Cayman remains a relatively low crime jurisdiction. However, as he passes the baton to Commissioner Designate Kurt Walton, a career RCIPS officer, after fulfilling the succession plan goal to replace himself with a Caymanian, crime is still a concern following a summer marred by armed stick-ups at restaurants, gas stations and small grocery stores.
Two major issues for the commissioner during his tenure were the need to improve community policing and deal with traffic issues, especially the disproportionate amount of serious crashes. Byrne has led a successful expansion and solidification of community policing, but the traffic cops made little, if any, headway in reducing road collisions.
While Byrne and his officers have often criticised a section of the motoring public for the very poor standards of driving, the commissioner said “the sheer volume of traffic” is the biggest problem as it undermines the quality of people’s lives and fuels high levels of stress. He said the “road network was simply not designed to handle this volume of traffic”, and the impatience of drivers often causes accidents.
He said that there were far too many fatal and serious accidents on the roads, which has a real cost to the families involved and society more broadly. “We have issued a lot of tickets,” the commissioner noted but said some drivers have an illogical approach to the roads.
When it comes to community policing, Byrne has had more success, though he said the work done by beat officers is often intangible and hard to measure, such as resolving low-level conflicts and dealing with quality-of-life issues at the street level. “Not everything needs to have a penal code response,” Byrne said, but maintained that this work was all an important part of building the trust between the community and the RCIPS.
Persuading people to engage with and trust his officers has been an important part of the work he has done over the last seven years, he said. When he arrived Byrne had said the development of community policing was a priority for him, and while there is still more work to be done, he feels that much progress has been made.
He pointed out that in a largely unarmed police service, community policing was an essential tool for getting the public to give officers information to help them prevent and solve crimes.
Whether or not he has done a good job was for others to decide, he said, but he believes he had “never shied away” from the difficult things that had to be done and changes that had to be made. “I was committed to the task,” Byrne told the press. He said that he had challenged the status quo and was largely supported in that but when you are bringing about change, “you can’t please everyone”.
The commissioner said that he is leaving behind a different police service to the one he found and leaving it in the capable hands of Walton, who he was confident would take the RCIPS forward. But Byrne, who is returning to his native Ireland, said it was not easy “walking away from the Cayman Islands”, which he said was “a fabulous place” where he had worked with “some of the best men and women ever” in his career.