After two years at the helm of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), Commissioner of Police Verne Garde has reflected on the changes, achievements and challenges during his tenure.
Garde, who assumed the position of Acting Commissioner of Police on September 2, 2024, initially under a six-month contract, has since had his appointment extended. His contract was extended for another year in March 2025, and in April 2026 he was reappointed for a further two years.
Speaking on Wednesday at a ceremony for the handover of computers from the Embassy of Taiwan, Garde described reaching the two-year mark as a milestone.
“Today is a day that marks two years with me in the organisation and in my view it’s a milestone,” he said.
“The achievement is in my view not in meeting with my personal expectations but we have done a bit.”
Garde pointed to several changes within the RSLPF during his tenure, including the rebranding and expansion of several units.
He cited the transformation of the Traffic Department into the Department of Road Safety and Traffic Investigations as one example.
“We have gone from just having a drug squad to the GNFU, Guns, Narcotics and Firearms Unit, where the scope is a bit wider,” he said.
Garde also highlighted developments within the force’s K9 unit.
“We have gone from a K9 unit where we once housed one K9 in arbitrary fashion, to now having a more sophisticated K9 facility which is now actually ninety percent constructed at the grounds of the police training school,” he said.
The top cop also announced progress on the establishment of a marine base in Soufriere, an initiative he said had been pursued for several years.
“We have also been able to work closely with our corporate friends in Soufriere, because for a number of years we would have tried to establish what we call a marine sub station in Soufriere and that was not achieved,” Garde said.
“But I am happy to report that the structure for that marine base is ready and we are now prepared to do the deployment of 15 persons to Soufriere to support the maritime environment there.”
Garde also pointed to training programmes undertaken by the RSLPF, as well as recruitment efforts targeting new police officers, special constables and port police.
He said he believes the force’s unity and “esprit de corps” are now at an all-time high.
“The staff was not as unified as they are today,” Garde said, explaining that efforts had been made to bring members of the force together through social activities.
“We have worked through a committee that works closely with the community policing and that committee’s responsibility is to ensure that they allow the staff to come together in a social way,” he explained.
However, Garde acknowledged that his tenure has also been marked by significant challenges.
“While you mention the positives you sincerely need to mention the negatives,” he said.
“The geo criminal environment was such that two years ago we were on a spiral. We have had some of the highest homicide rates in the country over the lifetime of the organisation.”
Garde described last year as particularly challenging but said a series of police operations helped to address some of the issues facing the country.
According to the Commissioner, those operations resulted in the interception of what he described as the largest amount of firearms and ammunition in the recorded history of the organisation.
“We started on the same platform in January and we are moving well with the interception of firearms and ammunition so we are doing well,” he said.
Garde said the RSLPF remains committed to improving the security environment, while acknowledging that reversing the challenges facing the force and the wider society will take time.
“It will not be done overnight. It took us more than twenty-five years to get this way, we will not be able to do it in two years but I am confident that in the ensuing year and a half we will be able to do it,” he asserted.
