PHILIPSBURG:--- Police officers from the islands of Saba and Sint Eustatius (KPCN) together with police officers from the KPSM are presently undergoing a rigorous three days training on Situational Oriented Policing. This training was made possible during the discussions at the JVO (discussions between the four Justice Ministries in the Kingdom) and in collaboration between the Ministry of Safety and Justice in the Netherlands and the Minister of Justice and Chief of Police on Sint Maarten. The training is financed by the Netherlands and with the focus on the upgrading and professionalizing of the police force of Sint Maarten and the present financial situation the force is confronted with, the Minister of Justice Edson Kirindongo immediately gave his approval for the training to be organized on Sint Maarten, allowing the members of the KPSM to take part in this training, which is definitely cost efficient. The training will consist of two classes of three consecutive days training starting May 9th through May 11th and May 12th through May 14th 2016. Officers from the KPCN will be assisted on their respective islands by officers from the KPSM during this period, as part of the cooperation between the two police entities. This is training is equivalent to the Integral Profession Training which was an in-house training given to the police officers of KPSM by local police instructors and which they participated in during the month of April 2016.
Five instructors from the Police Academy in Ossendrecht in the Netherlands are on Sint Maarten giving this training. The instructors are Sjoerd Schepers, Michiel Bitter, Alex van Andel, Chris Dudink and Willem Hamoen. They are experienced instructors in Integral Profession Training and Mental Toughness where practical police work is concerned. The training will consists of several topics such as; dealing with practical situations in public, around motor vehicles and closed-in areas. After the training the instructors will then travel to Bonaire where they will also provide the officers on that island with four sessions of this three days training.
