THE BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY:: BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : THE ROYAL BARBADOS POLICE FORCE (RBPF) AS OUTLINED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF BARBADOS IS A PART OF THE GOVERNMENT

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : THE ROYAL BARBADOS POLICE FORCE (RBPF) AS OUTLINED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF BARBADOS IS A PART OF THE GOVERNMENT

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF), as outlined by the Constitution of Barbados is a part of the government responsible for local law enforcement. Assistant Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith has been acting as Commissioner of the Police since June 2013 when Commissioner Darwin Dottin was asked to retire in the public's interest. The RBPF is divided into three territorial divisions, the Operations Support Division, the Administrative Support Division and the Criminal Investigations Division.^[1] The organisation structure of the RBPF is modelled after London's Metropolitan Police Service.

In recent years, a growing number of Barbadian police officers have been recruited to take up jobs in the Bermuda Police Service.

History

The main Police Force in Barbados was established in 1835.^[2] Soon after its founding the Police Force informally had mounted policemen, however in 1880 an actual mounted division was recognised and known as the Mounted Corps. (later renamed the Mounted Branch in 1933.) In 1882, the Harbour Police Force was unified with the main land division after it had been established separately in 1867. Roughly 100 years later in the 1980s the Harbour Police unit was dissolved entirely.

The prefix "Royal" was added to the title of the Police Force in February 1966 due to a visit by the Queen. Since that time, "Royal" has remained as part of the name and identity of the force.

Organisation

The headquarters for the RBPF is in the former Barclays Bank Complex on Lower Roebuck Street, Bridgetown, Saint Michael.^[3]

The headquarters houses the Commissioner of Police; the Deputy Commissioner of Police; the offices of all assistant commissioners of police; all staff officers of the above commissioners; the secretary to the Commissioner of Police; the Research and Development Department; the Police Registry; and the Office of Compliance.