It is not often, actually never before, have I listened to Radio Cayman’s morning talk show “For the Record”, but last Monday I left my iaPd behind and I had to use the car radio. Heavens forbid! I just happened to find our Premier, Alden McLaughlin talking.

What he said was very interesting.

“The UK are crazy having responsibility here for national security!” He said, almost making me stop my vehicle in its tracks. “It would be far better if the people could hold me or another elected member responsible.”

He made it very clear in his opinion the National Security Council was not functioning as it should because everything to do with police policy remains with the Cayman Islands governor, Helen Kilpatrick.

The Cayman Islands people pay the money for our police force but we have no control over how it is run.

“The construct does not work,” McLaughlin said and the UK would be well advised to agree to allow a police authority. Cayman, the UK and the governor will all be better off if we had a police authority responsible for the police service and the commissioner, instead of the post being line managed by the governor.”

Well said, sir, and I 100% agree.

He even referred to the post of police commissioner as “a poisoned chalice” and reiterated his previous concern that it was going to be very difficult to find a replacement for present (and now resigned) Commissioner David Baines because of the opposition MLAs’ motion of “no confidence” in the RCIPS, the media’s bashing and the general public’s conception of a police force floundering with no direction.

He even said he welcomed the discussion on the police force expected to take place in the Legislative Assembly on 28th April but the ‘no confidence’ motion will not improve a “difficult situation”.

Whatever comes from the debate will make not a scrap of difference because the government has no say in how it is run or who runs it.

All the motion will do is to make the morale of our police force even worse than it is at the moment.

And worse, make the public even less likely to help the police in their inquiries than they do now.

For the record … I also believe the Cayman Islands should be able to govern its own police force.