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by pltm
(PLTM) - Education and Culture Minister, Hon. Myron Walwyn is not pleased with the current law where police officers of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) are sent on retirement at the age of 55. "...There is a danger in that as well because you lose a lot of institutional knowledge and institutional history in a particular organization. I saw that happen in the police force over the years. A number of very good senior police officers went home almost like dominoes falling," he said while debating the Compulsory Retirement Age Act, 2016. "You didn't even know they were gone. You saw them at the side of the road cooling out and ask, 'how come you ain't gone work', and they say you all send me home." Under the existing Police Act, it is mandatory that Inspectors and Constables be retired at the age of 55. However, Minister Walwyn believes that this is not a wise position, noting that policing is not just about running behind robbers. "And they are going home with all that knowledge about policing…There is a major intellectual part of it, intelligence gathering that you get over time that is still very valuable to the force," he said. He mentioned some of the good officers who were sent home, including Roy Stoutt and Mckenzie Baltimore. "They are replaced in many instances with the younger ones. It's good to bring the younger ones, but you need to have a mix so that there is a transfer of knowledge between them," the Minister noted. He said, "The same thing happened at the prison because there is a lot you can learn from prison work." Government is looking to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65; however, BVI Platinum News understands that police officers are not included, since the decision on retirement for cops falls under the Police Act. Today when the House of Assembly resumes, the debate on the Compulsory Retirement Act will continue.
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