12 police officers took the oath and recieved their diplomas as they graduated from a 3 year training course.
Acting Chief of Polce Carl John
Police Officers receiving their stripes
The officers would be starting to perform their duties as of Monday July 29th 2013.
Police Officer taking the oath
the following is the speech by Chief of Police Mr. Peter de Witte:
Excellencies, Members of the Progress Committee, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, good morning.
It is almost three years ago, that we have formally become an independent Police Force of Sint Maarten. One of our many challenges was to organize good professional basic police training on Sint Maarten. We have been successful in doing this, due to the excellent cooperation, between the Police Force of Bonaire and the Dutch Police Academy. 80 percent of the training was organized on St. Maarten and 20 percent on Bonaire.
Ladies and gentlemen, first I want to warmly congratulate all the cadets for obtaining their diploma of the first new Basic Police Training for the Police Force of Sint Maarten. WELL DONE!! What a great achievement. The training program in its content has changed significantly compared to the old program.
Your enthusiasm, your perseverance and your ability to improvise is worth a big compliment!
I also want to thank and congratulate to the family of the cadets for their support which was of great importance!
I would like to thank the Dutch Police Academy and express great compliment. You have managed to find the right teachers who in terms of knowledge and skills were adequate and who have managed to make the connection with our students who live and work in a different society and culture than that of the Netherlands. We are extremely satisfied with that.
In this context, I want to mention some persons from the police academy:
Ms. Alveres head of training
Rob Appelhof coordinator BPO
Jan Kooistra and Kitty van Gendt,
Ms Alveres I hope you will pass this message to all teachers who have given form and content. My thanks and compliments
Finally, on behalf of the Police management, I want to wholeheartedly thank Commissioner Carl John, and Inspector Keturah Brown, KPSM school coach, for their tremendous input for getting this training off the ground! Carl and Keturah thank you.
Let’s go back to the students;
You have learned a lot in theory. You have already performed in practice, and now you will go further by using this knowledge and skills to serve the community of St. Maarten and to further develop in the future.
I’ve seen you several times during training projects. I have total confidence that you will contribute to the safety of the citizens of Sint Maarten, the tourists and the fight against crime in general.
You have shown that you are eager to learn. Last Monday we have been in discussion with the police academy on the continuation of this training program. We have plans for this in about a year to eighteen months. The police academy will provide us with a quotation and a project plan.
You have been sworn in for training as a police officer. You know the importance of the oath. Today the oath will once again be taken by the Minister of Finance in his role as Deputy Minister of Justice.
I want to congratulate you with your diploma. I am very proud of you and welcome you with your assistance in the Police force.