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New Chief of Police: “Look forward to what you can do; not back to what you can’t change”

The new Chief of Police says he feels proud to be the top cop for the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

Kralendijk- New Chief for the Korps Politie Caribisch Nederland (KPCN) feels proud to be the new Police Chief for the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. Rosales said that when he decided to move from Rotterdam to Bonaire in the year 2005, he had no idea that he would one day end up being the new boss of the police force.

He said he did apply for every new opportunity he saw at KPCN and steadily moved up to higher ranking positions, only to be named as the new Chief of Police. Rosales had already been working for some time as director of operations of the police force. During a brief meeting with the press, Rosales stated that he really wanted to stress on good communication: with the press, but also with the population on the 3 islands.

Rosales said he felt support for his appointment from the lieutenant governors on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, which he considered important as the Chief of Police has to work closely with the governors on each of the islands.

The new police chief insisted that the crime figures have not deteriorated. “Always when you have a few incidents in a short time frame, like the armed robberies of the last few days, people feel that things are spiraling out of control” , said Rosales. He insisted that when the hard figures are studied, serious crimes actually show a downward trend.

The Chief of Police also stated that the amount of vacancies in the police force continues to be a concern. “We need to increase the number of detectives from 17 to 24. This is a concern because you don’t just open a can of detectives. They have to be trained”, said Rosales, who also pointed out that if you name people to a new department, you create vacancies elsewhere. Rosales said that in the second month of 2018, 11 new recruits will start their jobs at KPCN, bringing down the total number of vacancies.

In his speech after his formal installation, Rosales said that he wanted to start with a quote illustrating

his philosophy, namely that it is better to look forward to what you can do, than to look back at things you cannot change anyway.

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