The Caribbean and The Bahamas, with its archipelagic makeup and many open borders, is vulnerable to terrorism. This, coupled with The Bahamas’ dependence on the tourism industry, further adds to the dilemma in identifying a potential terrorist threat.
“The old saying that ‘no man is an island’ is especially true in these challenging times and that is why it is so important for security forces throughout the region and in the international arena to network, as what affects one eventually affects us all,” said Commissioner of Police, Paul Farquharson, who was speaking on Thursday at the first Bahamas Conclave on Terrorism, at the Wyndham Crystal Palace Resort.
According to the commissioner, during the two-day conclave with the theme “Terrorism, A Real threat To The Caribbean Region”, will hopefully be the catalyst by which the police will launch an around-the clock command centre, with a much-needed cohesive world-wide organization in times of peace and crisis.
Commissioner Farquharson said that though many were not directly implicated in the events of 9/11, the event set off a reaction for the police community worldwide. He said, The Bahamas has yet to attain the sustained level of integration necessary for the international law enforcement community to deal with the realities of policing in the third millennium.
The commissioner said that 9/11 provides a defining example of the new world environment and proves that a collaborative approach is the only way to detect, deter and destabilize global criminal entities.
“We are entering a new frontier in law enforcement, that is cause for each and every one of us to rethink how we do our job on a local, national and international level. Increasingly, situations that happen in one part of the world are having far-reaching ramifications in other areas,” he said.
Besides the obvious threat of terrorist activity, the commissioner said, The Bahamas is dealing with pressures resulting from changing demographics, an unsettled global economy and conflicts in the world’s political arena. These pressures, he said, affect us all in some way, shape, or form. He also noted that globalization means that more problems in one country will have roots or resolutions in another, which reinforces the need for all of us to work together locally, nationally and internationally to properly address common issues with a unified approach.
“It is my fervent hope that as we leave this meeting, we will have a vision of sustained integration in the security, intelligence and law enforcement communities, where intelligence flows freely at all levels,” he said, adding that law enforcement officers should not be content until the vision and principles of integrated policing spread throughout every law enforcement and intelligence agency in the region and world.
In his effort to help a new vision for security in The Bahamas, the commissioner told law enforcement officials that taking advantage of the conclave to talk about the challenges of terrorism threat is an important step to figuring out how The Bahamas can achieve its vision and ensure the collective well-being of citizens.
“This forum has the potential to be the facilitator that can make integrated security a reality,” he said.
Some goals of the conference were listed as:
* Bringing together teams of high-level agencies and regional partners from various jurisdictions to learn from experiences in responding to terrorist attacks.
* Working as a team to analyze the current environment and strategies to a response capacity within the relevant jurisdiction and sectors.
* Provide all partners with a shared experience and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the various disciplines in a coordinated team approach to a response.
* Provide an opportunity to explore specific issues in depth, as well as to work within a team on organization issues.
In addition to members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, other law enforcement officials at the conclave included: Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Island Police Force, David Thursfield; Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Wayne Pilgrim, and U.S. Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlene Berry.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
