Hinds: Compensation for protective service families still in place

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds says the policy that families of members of the protective services who die in the line of duty shall receive compensation remains in effect.

He was responding to a question in the Senate on Tuesday from Opposition Senator Wade Mark as to whether the families of two prison officers, murdered in November 2021, would receive one million dollars each in compensation.

Hinds said his ministry is guided by the policy approved by Cabinet in 2016.

“The policy as established in 2016 is quite clear. It says where an officer is killed in the execution of his duty, the compensation is made available to his legal personal representative on presentation of proof thereof.

"It has been in cases where the officer may not have been on actual duty, but would have been killed by virtue of the fact that he was an officer of law enforcement, and those circumstances have been taken into account and honoured.”

Hinds also outlined some of the measures implemented to treat with attacks on members of the protective services.

“These include strengthened partnership between the police and prison services, with increased intelligence supporting those actions; seizure of mobile phones and contraband and the maximum security prison, and the arrest of known rogue prison officers; prioritising the safety of high-risk prison officers based on information gathered and strategic patrols around their homes and those of family members; and the use of intelligence briefs and special reports to guide the TT operational team.”

He said initiatives had also been launched to reverse the trend of young people being murdered.

“These include strengthened youth outreach through Hearts and Minds and the police youth clubs, and the ministry’s Cure Violence Programme, and enhancement of the community policing secretariat through enhancing partnerships with other government entities, all as prevention strategies.”

Hinds noted that while there has been an increase in violent activities between October and November 2021, including murders, a significant number of these murders were as a result of conflicts over land, familial relationships and other such domestic issues.

“In this regard, the (police service) instituted several measures including: the allocation of additional resources to the divisional operations and investigative units to improve their response time and the prosecution of known violent offenders; partnering with other agencies and stakeholders in an attempt to successfully enhance the capacity of investigative departments in managing these matters; increased patrols in districts where the upsurge is manifest and in safe zones, to increase visibility and the fear of committing crime.”

He said special stop-and-search exercises were done in collaboration with officers in the special investigation unit and the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Defence Force in these and similar areas.

“Finally there was continued deployment of community policing initiatives; free legal clinics to assist people in resolving some of these land and similar types of disputes; donation of food clothing, and other support with the Social Development Ministry to citizens through the Hearts and Minds Foundation, through the police, or opening conflict-resolution centres to assist people in having a resolution to these conflicts.”