The newly appointed Minister for Home Affairs Mitcy Larue yesterday continued her visits of the various police stations around Mahé.

Minister Larue and her delegation comprising Commissioner of Police Reginald Elizabeth, special advisor Sheryl Vangadasamy, among other police officers started their visit at the station at the Seychelles International Airport (SIA), Pointe Larue and ended at the Mont Fleuri police station.

The purpose of the familiarisation visit was to inspect the environment in which the police officers are working as well as to find out how best the ministry could assist the police to improve services.

At the airport’s station Minister Larue got the opportunity to interact with staff  and listened attentively to their problems.

“Since I am the new Minister for Home Affairs, it was an opportunity for me to visit the police family, as part of an ongoing visit. I need to make sure that I visit each unit that falls under my department, and for me to see first hand what kind of activities and services each department is offering to the public. It also gives me an opportunity to dialogue with the staff. I must continue the splendid work that my colleague minister Charles Bastienne has done so far,” she said.

She pointed out that much work needs to be done to bring the police department to the next level.

“During my visit I was made aware of some issues that my ministry will have to resolve such as the lack of resources. The police department is working on a new pilot programme at the Central Police Station to reduce the shift of the staff from four to three, due to the fact that working in the police department can be exhausting. So this new programme will give the officers an opportunity to be more pro-active, and more rest time,” she said.

The minister concluded her visit at the Mont Fleuri police station where she got the opportunity to interact with the staff personally in a closed door meeting to discuss about their problems.

“The Mont Fleuri district is an area that has got a lot of crime, and we need more workforce to reduce the amount of work the officers currently have to do. Also we have many issues in the traffic section; we are having many fatal accidents this year. We will have to put in place a national education programme on the need for the public to take their road safety more seriously. Make sure that people do not drive drunk, wear their seatbelts among many other pertinent issues.  In terms of crime in each station that I have visited the level of crime is reducing, but our target is to continue such great job, make sure our citizens are safe,” she said.

She added that the Mont Fleuri police station will be renovated completely to make sure that each section in the police department has their own area and space to accommodate their work. Also in 2018 the airport will have a better police station.

The accompanying photos show Minister Larue and her entourage during their visits.

A group of 60 officers from the Seychelles Police, including the Public Security Support Wing (PSSW), graduated yesterday after completing 18 months of training at the Seychelles Police Academy (SPA).

The graduation ceremony was held at the SPA at Pointe Larue in the presence of President Danny Faure, the Minister for Home Affairs Charles Bastienne, the Commissioner of Police Reginald Elizabeth, high ranking officers and parents of the graduates.

The subjects covered during the training included profession of police officer in the Seychelles context, self defence and restraining skills, human rights, acts, laws, rules and regulations in the context of policing, among other subjects.

The ceremony started and ended with a parade inspected by President Faure.

There were special prizes for outstanding performance: Trevor Rose won the President’s Cup, the award for Most Disciplined went to Frances Freminot, Best Academic went to Shawn Woodcock  and Most Improved went to Rose Albert.