Novelle Francis did a lot of praying and soul-searching before accepting the nomination to be the next Virgin Islands police commissioner, he told Rotary II members at the Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort Wednesday afternoon.
Well aware of the challenges he faces, Francis outlined for Rotary members some of the initiatives he will implement.
His mandate from the governor is to “get back to the basics of policing” and steps have already been taken to ensure that happens, including removing the tint from patrol cars and requiring officers to keep their windows rolled down when driving through neighborhoods, thereby making them more accessible to the community.
Residents will also start to see more officers on foot, scooters, and bike patrols as graduates of the police academy will be required to do this before being able to patrol in cars.
The department has begun focusing on gang activity, Francis said.
"There is a gang situation here that we have been in denial about,” he said.
To deal with this, Francis has brought back a former police officer to act as a coordinator whose job will focus solely on gangs and developing a plan to curtail gang activities.
In assessing the current situation in the police department, Francis touched on two key areas where he wants to see improvement – accountability and discipline. He will demand accountability across the board.
“My responsibility as commissioner is to hold my chiefs accountable and they, in turn, have to hold their officers accountable," he said.
Francis said he hopes to totally change the way the Internal Affairs unit is run, replacing police officers with civilians trained in law enforcement or a similar background trained at the police academy.
To change the image of the police department and instill confidence, Francis intends to make information about disciplinary actions taken within the department available to the public.
Experienced officers are being recruited from outside the territory and a total of 51 applications have been sent out in response to inquiries. A total of seven have been recruited so far but two have already left, Francis said.
In another move to increase the department’s success, Francis will instate mandatory eighthour training monthly at the police academy for all officers, regardless of rank.
He has inherited a police department currently under consent decree for their use of deadly force and a lack of regulations. Francis is in the process of selecting a monitor to ensure that the department is in compliance with the consent decree.
The department is also under federal audit regarding the evidence rooms and according to Francis, new space has been located on St. Thomas and a buildout is being done on St. Croix.
He recently spent six hours with the Major Crimes units on both St. Thomas and St. Croix and said those units need to be reorganized and motivated, noting that only five of 23 murders this year have been solved. Francis hopes that “changing the face of the police department may encourage community members to come forward with information.”
Surveillance cameras are up and running but the department lacks officers to man the cameras. The department has 46 officers out on leave, some of whom are military/ Francis said he may bring in some of those officers who are prohibited physically from active patrol but may be able to monitor cameras at a desk job.
Another daunting task ahead of him is improving the morale in the department and he said he is looking at ways to reward and recognize officers for good deeds. Along those same lines, he would like the department’s public relations to begin reporting on those good deeds.
Reiterating his commitment to changing the face of the police department and instilling confidence within the community, Francis told Rotary II members, “We have more good officers than bad, and I think it’s important that we weed out the bad officers.”
Rotary II meets every Wednesday at 12:15 pm at Frenchman’s Reef.
