The St. Maarten Police Force KPSM and the Gendarmerie conducted a joint patrol on Tuesday afternoon, the first in what police say will be many more to come. In photo: St. Maarten Police Force KPSM and Gendarmerie officials in a meeting on Monday.
PHILIPSBURG/MARIGOT--The St. Maarten Police Force KPSM and the Gendarmerie conducted a joint patrol on Tuesday afternoon, the first in what police say will be many more to come.
“To broaden the enforcement capability of police organisations from French St. Martin and Dutch St. Maarten, a decision was taken to bring together personnel from the two Police Forces to patrol the entire island together,” said KPSM in a press release on Tuesday night.
The decision to conduct joint patrols was realised in a meeting between KPSM Chief Carl John and Gendarmerie Commandant Stephan Basso at the Philipsburg police station on Monday.
The first joint patrol took place between 3:00 and 5:00pm Tuesday. During the patrol, French- and Dutch-side police vehicles worked in pairs. On the French side a Gendarmerie vehicle led the patrol with a KPSM vehicle trailing it. It was the opposite when patrolling on the Dutch side, with a KPSM vehicle leading the patrol and a Gendarmerie vehicle driving behind it.
KPSM and Gendarmerie officers started conducting joint controls at the island’s borders on Friday, March 27, as part of the coronavirus COVID-19 response. These continued over the weekend and into Tuesday, as officers manned the borders and controlled vehicles on Tuesday evening.
The joint controls and patrols are to “enforce the restricted movement of persons as part of preventative measures to avoid the further spread of the coronavirus,” according to the press release. “These mixed patrols and combined controls will be extended in the future.”
