Vincentian police officer Devon Bute, a member of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was elected unopposed to serve as president of the Caribbean Federation of Police Welfare Associations (CFPWA) Inc.
His colleague Police Constable, Somorow Quashie, general secretary of the RSVG Welfare Association was also elected as assistant treasurer.
Over a three-day conference, July 28-30, the CFPWA held its 9th annual general meeting virtually under the theme “Creating Connections-Building Bridges…Together”.
At the opening ceremony, the conference heard remarks from Steve Foster, commissioner of police of the Royal Montserrat Police Force; Edward J. Strohm, vice president of the Three Strohm Sisters Foundation who has expressed interest in sponsoring paediatric cancer research facility in the Caribbean region, President (CFPWA), acting Senior Superintendent Anand Ramesar and featured speaker, Oris Sullivan, director of public prosecution of Montserrat.
There were a series of discussions, however, but COVID-19 and its impact on law enforcement across the region was one of the main discussion point. In keeping with one of the organisation’s strategic objectives, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was entered into and signed between Monroe College and the CFPWA, which aims to provide educational opportunities along with other benefits for all law enforcement officers within the region.
On the final day of the conference, the organisation held its elections for the 11 vacant executive committee posts, there were a total of 19 nominees who contested the elections for the various posts.
The 16 member states elected a new executive committee to preside over the affairs of the CFPWA by its constitution. The following officers were also elected to serve a two-years term, 2021-2023: Vice President — Travis Chicot (St. Lucia); First Vice President — Sean McCall (British Virgin Islands); Treasurer — Joshua Pierre (Trinidad and Tobago); Assistant Treasurer — Somorow Quashie (St. Vincent and the Grenadines); Public Relations Officer — Nickera Farrington – Robinson (Bahamas); and, Protocol Officer — Jepson Victor (Turks and Caicos Islands)
The following officers were elected to serve a three-years term 2021 – 2024: General Secretary — David Barnett (Jamaica); Assistant General Secretary — Tammika Lall-Williams (Turks and Caicos Islands); Trustee — Raymond Thom (Trinidad and Tobago); and Trustee — Sonny Miller (Bahamas)
The annual general meeting and conference concluded with the federation recommitting itself to its aim and objectives according to the by-laws of its constitution.
In his closing remarks, Bute thanked all the participants for taking the time out to participate in the three days virtual annual general meeting, the immediate past president Ramesar and those that placed the confidence and trust to allow him to be elected unopposed.
He echoed that the federation has a lot of potentials and the new executive desires to realise those potentials.
Congratulations were extended to all from the general membership who expressed their confidence in the new executive and wished them a successful tenure.