Opposition says it knew Nothing of the damming Review of Royal TCI Police 

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, October 23, 2023 – Like residents, the opposition PDM Party was completely blindsided by reports of a review of into the TCI Police Force and subsequent findings that point to serious failings.

The Guardian broke the news on October 17 claiming to have seen a report from the Foreign Office which indicated that there were serious gaps in the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.

When Magnetic Media reached out to the Opposition they confirmed they had been left out of the loop.  We queried whether the opposition knew the report was commissioned, who commissioned it, whether they had seen the full report, and if the opposition knew the extent of the reported failures of the police force.

The answer to all of the questions from Edwin Astwood, Leader of the Opposition and Alvin Garland, Opposition Appointed Member was a resounding No.

We sent similar questions to the Premier’s Press Office but received no response up to news publication time.

Currently, the Police Force is under the purview of the Governor. Though the Premier sits on the National Security Council as co-chair of with the Governor there is no elected member of Cabinet with responsibility for domestic security who is law-bound to give account to residents in policing matters.

It has caused friction in the House of Assembly. Garland is on record calling for immediate changes to the constitution to allow elected members to investigate the very same, the inner workings of the publicly-funded Force.

In 2022, amid the same crime wave that reportedly prompted the Foreign Office to give up and close inspection of the Police Force.

“The legislature should not be prohibited or restricted from being able to appoint a select committee given this present time and what is taking place in our country,” he continued “This House has to approve the funding for the police department every year but this house cannot enquire— into anything in the police department.  This House cannot continue to function as a rubber stamp for the executive.”

Opposition Leader, Edwin Astwood has indicated current talks on Constitutional reform seek to create an oversight body for the Royal TCI Police.