More than 400 officers in Grand Bahama, “prepared” for two-week lockdown

More than 400 officers in Grand Bahama, “prepared” for two-week lockdown
Police officers. [FILE PHOTO]

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said there are more than sufficient numbers of police officers in Grand Bahama to ensure compliance amid the two-week lockdown in Grand Bahama.

The two-week lockdown began yesterday at 7pm and will come to an end on August 7 at 5am

Responding to questions from the media, Rolle said: “The measures in Grand Bahama to police the lockdown are the same as it was here in Nassau. I have instructed the assistant commissioner and his team to put an operation in place to police the lockdown and ensure that persons comply with it.”

Asked if additional officers were deployed to Grand Bahama to assist with the lockdown, the commissioner said: “There is no need for that. I have 400 officers in Grand Bahama and 200 reserve. That is more than sufficient.”

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said strict shelter in place measures were required amid a surge of coronavirus cases.

He said the situation could worsen if preventative measures were not adhered to.

There were 55 new confirmed cases on Thursday.

The total number of cases ballooned to 274 — 119 in New Providence, 120 in Grand Bahama, 21 in Bimini, four in the Berry Islands, four in Cat Cay, two in Cat Island, and four in Moore’s Island, according to the Ministry of Health’s dashboard.

Since the reopening of the borders to international commercial carriers on July 1, there have been 170 new infections.

The new infections in the last 22 days eclipses the total number of cases recorded at the outset of the pandemic up to June 30.

Rolle said the Royal Bahamas Police Force is prepared to “meet the challenge” of enforcing the emergency order. He again urged the public to abide by the social distancing protocols,

He said: “We are prepared. We have all of our PPEs and we have the requisite amount of human resources in order to respond and it’s not only a matter for the Royal Bahamas Police Force, it is a matter for all of us.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashton Greenslade acknowledged recently that there were a number of officers in quarantine, but similarly to the commissioner, assured the remaining resources were sufficient.

Police Staff Association Executive Chairman Sergeant Sunny Milly also told Eyewitness News police officers were among the recent infections on the island, though he did not disclose a figure.

As of Thursday, Grand Bahama had the largest number of confirmed cases with 120.

Since the July 1 reopening of the country’s borders to international commercial carriers, there have been 112 new infections on Grand Bahama.

These cases have largely been attributed to Bahamians and residents traveling to hot spots areas.

Overall, there have been 274 confirmed cases of the virus.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.