By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

CABINET will spend $5.9m to purchase new vehicles for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), according to Minister of National Security Marvin Dames.

Additional funds will also be poured into law enforcement agencies to improve their physical environments and provide the RBPF with cutting-edge technology.

Mr Dames made this announcement on Sunday at the RBPF's annual church service.

"Our government is…serious about improving infrastructure and providing you with equipment necessary to perform all your duties optimally and professionally," he said.

"I am pleased to announce that the Cabinet has approved the purchase of a new $5.9m vehicle fleet of which $2.3m will be acquired in this fiscal period. These vehicles will comprise police cruisers, SUVs, T-3 Segways and ATVs."

Mr Dames also promised that a renovation of law enforcement buildings is on the agenda. Although he did not provide a figure for how much this would cost, Mr Dames promised "we are going to put our money where our mouth is."

"As minister of national security, I am also acutely aware of the substandard working conditions that many of you have had to contend with for far too long.

"We cannot expect you to give of your best when we fail to acknowledge and fix the substandard environment in which you work.

"This also holds true for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the (Department of) Correctional Services. Let me assure each of you that we are going to put our money where our mouth is. We are taking corrective steps to have the dilapidated stations and other buildings that law enforcement officers occupy, completely renovated."

Mr Dames also reiterated the importance of the RBPF having access to the newest technologies.

"Last year we rolled out the test phase of body cameras. We are working with global industry leaders in such areas as improved CCTV technology, analytics, facial recognition capability, licence plate recognition, artificial intelligence, gunshot detection, cyber, drones and radar technology to name a few.

"Bahamians can expect to see many of these tools introduced this year. One of our government's (aims) is to bring excitement to law enforcement again."

Mr Dames did not provide an estimate for the cost of these new technologies either. The body cam test programme was unveiled last year, and as of November 2017 the Ministry of National Security was still unaware of how much it would cost to outfit RBPF officers with these cameras.

Despite this, Mr Dames told The Tribune then that he believes the use of body cams, once expanded throughout the force, will reduce the number of complaints of police brutality and improve professionalism in the force.