On January 7th, 2013, the Royal Military Police (KMAR) will start a training for general criminal investigators. The training will be followed by 17 local employees, now working as a border guard at the (air) port. They all have applied for the post of general criminal investigator and have successfully completed an assessment. The internal training will last 36 weeks and it consists of theory and practice. This training will also be followed by two new locally recruited employees.
At present the KMAR consists of two separate departments. The department of ‘Mobile Pool’ and the department of ‘Border Control’. At the end of 2013, these two departments will merge into one department ‘Border Police’. Upon completion of this training, the employees will be much more versatile than in their current position. They will become part of the new department "Border Police" and will be deployed at the border control of air and sea port, maritime surveillance/ patrol with the Coast Guard and STINAPA, police tasks at the airport, Security Civil Aviation, the Flamingo team, or as a member of a detective team.
In the training, among others, attention will be paid to the legislation and regulation of BES, civics, ethics, sports, first aid and CPR, behavior, profiling, knowledge of police systems and document recognition.
Sharlina Martis and Julina Felida both have been working well over 10 years as a border guard on Bonaire. They are excited because they will follow the training. Sharlina: "For me it is important to develop myself. With this training I will get a job with more variety and challenge and it also offers better growth opportunities for the future". Julina agrees with this: "soon we will also have general investigative tasks and we will be able to work more closely with the police and also form part of the Flamingo Team at the airport." The "Flamingo Team" is a collaboration of the KMAR and Customs of Dutch Caribbean, responsible for 100% controls on the presence of narcotics directed towards flights to the Netherlands.
The training will start on January 7th, 2013 on Bonaire and it will last until late October. At a later stage, this training will also be given to a number of border guards of Saba and St. Eustatius.