THERE IS NO LONGER any "good and overwhelming reason" to separate operations between the defence and police forces in the region, says Chief Justice Sir David Simmons.

He made the assertion during his feature address yesterday at the opening ceremony of the two-day Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP) Inter-sessional Meeting, held at Amaryllis Beach Resort, Hastings, Christ Church.

"In Barbados we have reaped great results from the joint operations of police and defence forces and I am in no doubt that this collaboration and operational co-operation have contributed to our relative success and stability. Legislative action and creation of appropriate protocols may be needed, but action is necessary," he said.

In addition, he urged continued collaboration between regional security agencies by sharing information and intelligence like during Cricket World Cup 2007.

"The need now is to make it a permanent feature of regional policing," he said. "Effective responses require a mix of governmental policies and police strategies."

Meanwhile, Sir David also recommended that law enforcement agencies not "lag behind", that their technological resources be state-of-the-art, with "adequate mechanical resources to facilitate swift response to crime . . . marine sections of police forces must be strengthened, [and] police accommodation must be improved.

"It is my personal view, but one which I have held for a long time, that criminals must have little respect for police officers who operate out of dilapidated, rundown stations.

"Clearly, the human resources of police forces must be maintained at an adequate level to ensure satisfactory coverage of our islands. And police officers must be remunerated at a level to ensure their retention and minimise poaching or recruitment by foreign forces," he added.

Sir David also called for diversification of police strategies, consistency in the approach to sentencing "aiming to uniformity of approach . . . and to let offenders and the general public know what will happen if they are found guilty of a particular crime"; and modernising the justice system which he said was "bedevilled and bogged down" by the problem of delay that occurred at every stage of the criminal justice process. (TM)