Bahamian Officers to stay longer in TCI

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, February 6, 2023 – The members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force deployed to the Turks and Caicos will remain in the British overseas territory for a little longer according to the TCI Government.

The request for an extended stay from the TCI was made at the trilateral meetings with the Bahamas and the United States held this past December, and the Bahamian Government has  since agreed.

The Bahamas was the first country of several which was asked, to actually put boots on the ground at the behest of the TCI government after the major crime wave that rocked the country in 2022; a move which the Turks and Caicos Islands National Security leaders have repeatedly praised.

The government made the announcement of the extension in a meeting debrief during which they also indicated that they would be strengthening the: National Security-to-National Security, Police-to-Police and Military–to-Military relationships with the Bahamas including information sharing, improved collaboration and training.

The TCI has also “offered the Royal Bahamas Defence Force an opportunity to host and deploy their naval assets in Grand Turk, to jointly task the aerial surveillance aircraft that is being procured by the United Kingdom, for TCI, and to share – in real-time, TCI’s coastal radar network with the Maritime Operations Center in the Bahamas”  the briefing explained. This, it said, would be a ‘mutually beneficial arrangement that will expand the Bahamian southern border of protection while allowing for increased coverage of TCI’s waters.’