Mr Thompson pointed to the double murder of two Austrian tourists, both aristocrats, at a Bimini resort last year as being evidence of how foreign visitors can suffer from a laxity of security at Bahamian resorts.
Mr Thompson said he personally surveilled the resort, and discovered that there was only one security officer on duty at night – primarily guarding the outside dock area, rather than the suites.
“On the land side it’s OK – you’ve got the defence force man with his gun, you’ve got the policeman and all that, but we know that boats have come up that harbour with illegal immigrants, undetected.
“I think of the five cruise ships that come in with all those tourists and what I suggest is that there should be mandatory patrol by the defence force in that harbour, up and down, particularly when you have those cruise ships there”, he said.
Aside from patrols, Mr Thompson also suggested a mini defence force base be established in the lighthouse across the harbour, so that officers are in a position to detect any suspicious marine activity before it can escalate into anything more threatening.
The lack of police and security presence in key locations is leaving visitors to the Bahamas at risk from terrorist activities as well as domestic crime, according to a security consultant and former high-ranking police official.
Speaking to The Tribune during a break from a panel discussion on strengthening the relationship between police and private security forces, held at police headquarters yesterday, former assistant commissioner of police Paul Thompson said he did not think the police were doing enough to secure the safety of visitors to the Bahamas.
In particular, Mr Thompson noted the vulnerability of Prince George dock as a potential target for terrorists, and a number of resorts other than Atlantis, which he described as “tops” in terms of its security provisions.
“I have a good idea of how crimes are committed,” said Mr Thompson, who worked at the Criminal Detective Unit for 25 years.
It is on the basis of this experience that the former policeman believes he can say with confidence that there is an inadequate level of security at most resorts in the Bahamas.
Having written to the Ministry of Tourism on the issue, Mr Thompson said he now hoped that a discussion such as the one at police headquarters yesterday could “impress on the government (the need) to include the security of the hotel as one of the criteria for licensing.”
Specifically, Mr Thompson claimed that hotels should have to hire security experts to assess their property in terms of its security vulnerabilities and hire a certain number of security officers based on these evaluations before they can obtain a licence to open to the public.
By: Alison Lowe, The Tribune
