Saint Helena Police Service

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Saint Helena Police Service
SHPS patch
SHPS patch
Flag of Saint Helena
Flag of Saint Helena
AbbreviationSHPS
MottoProtecting and serving our community
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSaint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha
LocationStHelena.png
Map of Saint Helena Police Service's jurisdiction
Size420 km²
Population5,661
Operational structure
HeadquartersColeman House, Jamestown, Saint Helena
Constables30
Facilities
Stations1
Website
Official Website

The Saint Helena Police Service is the local police force for the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, consisting of the South Atlantic islands of Saint Helena, Ascension and the island group of Tristan da Cunha.

The Saint Helena Police Service is part of the Saint Helena Police Directorate which also includes the Fire and Rescue Service, Her Majesty's Prison Jamestown, the Immigration Office and the Sea Rescue Service.[1]

Staffing and resources[]

The service has a staff of 63 on the most populous island of St Helena,[2] with a detachment of five on Ascension Island. Policing in Tristan da Cunha is undertaken by one full-time police inspector and three special constables. The current Tristan da Cunha inspector is Inspector Conrad Glass.[3]

Saint Helena has one police station, Coleman House, named after PC Leonard John Coleman who died in the line of duty on 2nd December 1982.[4] The Island's only prison - HMP Jamestown - was built in 1827 and in 2018.

Constables[]

Officers of the SHPS are known as Constables, as is typical with British police organisations. The Constables are a mixture of UK, South African and local nationals.[5] They do receive a certain amount of uniform and equipment from the UK. In 2014, they received some uniform from Sussex Police, from Sussex in the United Kingdom.[6]

Fallen Officers[]

  • PC Leonard John Coleman - died in the execution of his duty on 2nd December 1982. He was murdered after attending a domestic incident.[7][8]

Other services of the Directorate[]

HMP Jamestown[]

Established in 1826 HMP Jamestown provides accommodation for convicted and remanded prisoners and also provides a police custody facility for arrested persons. HMP Jamestown is a Category B prison holding adult male and female prisoners and young offenders, both convicted and those currently on remand by the courts.[9]

Located in the centre of Jamestown adjacent to the Attorney General's Chambers at Ogborne House, HMP Jamestown is also home to the Offender Management Service. The service, which started in 2011, delivers pre-sentence reports to the courts, community sentencing and probation. In addition it is responsible for supervising those serving parole or life licence.

Due to the remote nature of Saint Helena, its prison must be capable of managing all categories of prisoner locally, at least for short periods following arrest or conviction.

Issues[]

While prison services on St. Helena adhere to the same high standards as other facilities in the UK, HMP Jamestown cannot fulfill this requirements in some aspects, mainly due to the old building offering only limited space. It was criticised that the building did not offer modern (or hardly any at all) fire protection and is not barrier-free, making access for visiting wheelchair users impossible. The cells are overcrowded, not properly ventilated and do not allow sunlight to reach the inmates. There are no sanitation facilities in the cells and prisoners have to use common facilities that are not up to modern standards.

These problems are well known as HMP Jamestown had been declared unfit for further use already in 1850. Since that time, many suggestions had been made to build a more suitable prison and relocate the old facility, the last plan was for doing so in 2017. However, none of these plans have been followed up properly and today the same facilities, that have been declared unsuitable in 1850, are still being used in an rather improvised way.[10] Recent structural updates to improve the prisons fire safety might indicate that the relocation of the prison is still not planned in the near future.[11]

The prison was widely condemned and deemed to be "unfit for purpose" following an Inquiry by The Equality & Human Rights Commission.[12]

Immigration Office[]

This is the Office in charge of all border control at the Sea & Air Port, passport issuing and nationality matters and is composed of:[13]

  • Chief Immigration Officer
  • Three Senior Immigration Officers
  • Four Immigration Officers

Ranks[]

The current policing ranks are:[14]

  • Director – Head of Force
  • Deputy Chief
  • Chief Inspector
  • Inspector
  • Sergeant
  • Detective Sergeant
  • Police Constable
  • Special Constable

Fire Services:

  • Brigade Manager – Fire Chief
  • Watch Manager
  • Crew Manager
  • 8 Fire Fighters
  • Auxiliary Fire Fighters

Uniform and Equipment[]

Formal[]

All officers wear the typical British style police formal uniform (No. 1 Dress):

  • Dark blue tunic
  • Dark blue trousers
  • White shirt and black tie
  • Black boots/shoes
  • Peaked caps (males)
  • Bowler caps (females).[15][16]

Operational[]

  • All police officers wear a white shirt with black tie or black t-shirts, trousers; peaked cap (males), bowler cap (females) with the black-and-white tartan capband and SHPS capbadge.
  • Reflective vests or jackets worn whilst on street or traffic duty
  • Blue shirt and dark trousers for firefighters

N.B. The Custodian helmet is not worn in St Helena.

Equipment[]

Officers have a wide variety of equipment, such as:[17]

  • Batons
  • Handcuffs
  • OC spray
  • Yellow vests
  • Radios
  • Body cameras

Vehicles[]

Police vehicles are equipped with blue flashing lights and various colour schemes, such as the Battenburg' design, or simple stripes with the force logo.[18]

All Saint Helena Government vehicles, have SHG as part of the vehicle's registraton number (number plate).[19]

Social media[]

The Directorate has a Facebook account.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Police Directorate". 27 May 2021.
  2. ^ "The Police Department". St Helena Government. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  3. ^ Crossan, Rob (13 January 2010). "The world's loneliest police beat". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  4. ^ "SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE - POLICE CONSTABLE LEONARD COLEMAN". St Helena Government. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  5. ^ "St Helena Police".
  6. ^ "Donation of Uniform to St Helena Police". 8 September 2014.
  7. ^ https://www.facebook.com/sthelenapolice/photos/2342671335877975
  8. ^ https://www.facebook.com/sthelenapolice/photos/a.1214465642031889/2523875374424236/
  9. ^ "HM Prison". St Helena Government. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  10. ^ http://humanrightssthelena.org/prisonreportfinal.pdf
  11. ^ "HM Prison Meets Fire Safety Requirements". 11 June 2020.
  12. ^ http://humanrightssthelena.org/prisonreportfinal.pdf
  13. ^ "Immigration Office".
  14. ^ "Police Directorate Organisational Chart – June 2014" (PDF). Sainthelena.gov.sh. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Stock Photo - St Helena Police marching through Jamestown to celebrate the inauguration of the new Governor to the island in 2011".
  16. ^ "Stock Photo - St Helena Police marching through Jamestown to celebrate the inauguration of the new Governor to the island in 2011".
  17. ^ "16 Pictures Celebrating St Helena Day 2016. Saying "hello" to our friendly police constables on the streets of Jamestown. | St helena, Celebrities, Photographer".
  18. ^ https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/saint-helena-police-officer-waters-down-the-pavement-outside-her-picture-id865813866
  19. ^ https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/saint-helena-police-officer-waters-down-the-pavement-outside-her-picture-id865813866
  20. ^ "County fire engine arrives in St Helena". Dorset Echo. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  21. ^ "EXCO REPORT 69 – 15th February 2011 - St Helena - Ascension Island News". The-islander.org.ac. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2016.

Sources[]

  1. World Police Encyclopedia, ed. by Dilip K. Das & Michael Palmiotto published by Taylor & Francis, 2004.
  2. World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, second edition, Gale, 2006.
  3. Sullivan, Larry E. Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2005.

External links[]

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