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2.12 Deputy J.A. Martin of the Chairman of the Comité des Connétable s regarding using the Honorary Police to support the States of Jersey Police in any Parish on certain nights:
What laws, if any, need to be changed and in what timescale in order to train all Honorary Police to be able to support the States of Jersey Police in any Parish in which additional police presence could be required on certain nights?
Connétable K.P. Vibert of St. Ouen (Chairman of the Comité des Connétable s):
The training given to Honorary Police officers is to equip them to properly police their Parish. This training is offered by the training officers of the States of Jersey Police. The training received equips Honorary Police officers to support the States of Jersey Police, if requested to do so, however, it must be realised that the Honorary
Police officers are not a frontline force and can only assist in certain designated areas.
These areas are determined by States of Jersey Police policy and part of a
memorandum of understanding between the States of Jersey Police and the Honorary Police. I do not believe that there is a need for any change to the law.
- Deputy J.A. Martin:
Yes, supplementary. The Constable offered his opinion. He did not tell me what laws needed changing. Does he not believe in this day and age, with the problems that St. Helier finds itself in, and not only from people who live in the Parish, that the
Honorary Police system of Jersey must come up to date and support the States of Jersey Police whenever, wherever and in whatever Parish? If he does not agree with this, the system will die.
The Connétable of St. Ouen :
The Deputy has failed to hear the answer to my question. It is not the Honorary Police who decide where and when they can police. The assistance offered to the States of Jersey Police is there all the time, 24/7, but it is the States of Jersey Police themselves, with the policy which they have, who determine as and when they ask for help. They request that help, as and when they need it. It is not the Honorary Police who are refusing to turn out.
- Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:
I wonder if the Chairman could identify under what legal authority and under what policy, for example, our officers in a Parish like St. Helier, cruising in marked police vans, what powers do they have to intervene and what policy is governing that intervention?
The Connétable of St. Ouen :
I cannot answer that. I believe it must be under an agreement which has been reached between the States of Jersey Police and the St. Helier force.
- Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:
Just as a follow up, were such a patrol to come across, for example, an incident that required physical intervention, what is the advice given to Honorary Officers across all the Parishes in that regard?
The Connétable of St. Ouen :
That would come within the training which has been offered. I am not privy to exactly how far the Honorary Police officer can go in a situation like that.
- The Deputy of St. Martin :
Will the Chairman agree with me that the fruit was in the eating in as much as the training where he will agree with me that we will complement the Honorary Police, the door registration scheme and the States of Jersey Police on their tact, good humour and tolerance which was displayed at Jersey Live over the weekend [Approbation] which ensured that it was a very successful weekend for those people in Jersey just proving indeed when the young people want to go out and enjoy themselves they can do so in a lawful and peaceful manner to the enjoyment of everybody? Thank you.
The Connétable of St. Ouen :
I thank the Deputy for those comments and would just add that that is a perfect example of how the States and Honorary Police can work together.
- Deputy J.A. Martin:
I would say that it was a great success out in the Parish of Trinity over the weekend at Jersey Live with the police working together. My question then would be to the
Constable: so if I work closely with Home Affairs and the Home Affairs work with the police so that the States of Jersey Police can request any honorary force to back them up in St. Helier over the weekend, and under possibly the same law the Constable of Trinity used in the Jersey Live event where everyone in the Parish of Trinity was ordered out of the Parish by 12.00 a.m I really want to know what law was used and maybe the Constable of St. Helier should be very quick in following this on a Friday and Saturday night. Thank you. [Approbation].
The Connétable of St. Ouen :
The Jersey Live event is a one-off event. The Connétable of the Parish of Trinity , on behalf of his Honorary Police, invites members of Honorary Police from other Parishes to assist and that is under, I cannot remember which article of which law, but it is under Jersey law, the ability to assist in another Parish. As far as requiring assistance from the Honorary Police by the States of Jersey Police, that comes under the memorandum of understanding which was drawn up by the States of Jersey Police and discussed with the Honorary Police and signed by both parties. Under that memorandum the States of Jersey Police officers at police headquarters, when in need of assistance, decide who they will call.