Strengthening maritime operations in the Caribbean - FCDO
IGS was engaged by the FCDO to support a British Overseas Territory) Police Service within the Caribbean and reform its Marine Unit, successfully aligning its operations and training with UK policing and maritime standards and positioning it for a key compliance inspection.
The Context:
The BOT Police Service initiated a crucial reform of its Marine Unit to align with UK policing and maritime standards. The requirement for continuous development to drive higher performance levels and operational readiness, documentation protocols, and the need for more robust training for maritime personnel.
Our Role and Approach:
Working directly with the Superintendent for Operations and Marine, we deployed a highly experienced UK policing Marine Unit Sergeant to work closely with the management team and operational team. Our approach was a methodical process of assessment and strategic planning:
Compliance and Site Review: Conduct a thorough site evaluation of the marine base and produced a comprehensive report. This report identified critical gaps and actions to take to achieve a robust report and operational unit.
Training Needs Assessment: Evaluate the maritime team’s capabilities, benchmarking them against UK standards for basic, intermediate, and advanced powerboat operations.
Strategic Planning: Resource allocation and management, stakeholder collaboration, responsibility and focus, governance and performance, operational capability and mandating core vision for a highly functional Marine Unit.
The Result
Our engagement laid a critical foundation for the Marine Unit's long-term success and delivered immediate, actionable results:
Actionable Compliance Roadmap: We delivered a comprehensive compliance report with a clear set of actionable recommendations, providing the force with a pathway to align with UK standards.
Enhanced Operational Readiness: By identifying and initiating solutions to address training gaps, we significantly improved the Marine Unit’s operational performance and readiness ahead of the upcoming MCA inspection.
Long-Term Alignment: Our work established a strong foundation for sustained alignment with UK maritime policing standards, ensuring the unit is well-positioned for future success.
Lasting Change: We implemented functional processes that ensured timely completion of key actions, leading to a significant improvement in day-to-day operational responses. This included stronger equipment, streamlined logging and reporting, and more effective asset maintenance.