Commissioner of the Royal Montserrat Police Service (RMPS) Steve Foster, has been appointed as President of the of a 25 Member regional Law Enforcement Organization.
Commissioner Foster, was elected at the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP), where its 36th Annual General Meeting was held in the Bahamas between 31st May and 4th June 2022.
Under the theme, “Maximizing Partnerships to Mitigate Transnational Organized Crime in the Era of COVID-19”, this is the first occasion that a Commissioner of Police from Montserrat has been elected to this illustrious post. Commissioner Foster has served on the executive for the past ten (10) years in various capacities to include 1st Vice President; 2nd Vice President; Secretary Treasure and chair of the Organization from 2018 to present.
Commissioner Foster has taken over the Presidency from outgoing President Commissioner Colin John of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The present executive comprises of President Commissioner Steve Foster; 1st vice president, Commissioner Edwin Martin for Grenada; 2nd vice president, Commissioner Trevor Botting for Turks & Caicos; and Secretary Treasurer, Commissioner Colin John of St Vincent & the Grenadines.
As president of the ACCP, Commissioner Foster is also the appointed as the Regional Chair for Latin America, as well as the Caribbean on the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) executive and will represent the Caribbean region internationally on behalf of IACP and ACCP.
Over the next twelve months, the ACCP will focus on:
1. Strengthening the framework and the implementation of strategies to reduce crime and violence in the region with a focus on fire arms related crimes, firearms trafficking, domestic violence and offences against women, children and vulnerable persons;
2. Creating specific portfolios lead by commissions with specific expertise within their forces to identify and implement strategies to address local and regional challenges;
3. Implementing strategies to enhance the ACCP Scholarship Program for children of Police Officers and Police Support Staff;
4. Finalizing a MOU between the UAE and the ACCP for law enforcement corporation, to cover areas of training, crime scene a management and investigation;
5. Developing a framework for succession planning, capacity building, leadership development across the region;
6. Completing regional skills and training gap analysis and audit and implement strategies for joint training activities;
7. Developing common standard across the ACCP in Training, equipment;
8. Accessing benefits available to ACCP under the MOU with the IACP and NOBLE;
9. Review and update the ACCP five (5) year Strategic Plan.
The ACCP is made up of the fourteen 14 CARICOM Countries and Observers, the Five (5) Caribbean UK overseas Territories and Bermuda, Haiti, the French and Dutch Antilles.