FEES for obtaining police records and certificates of character are set to rise.
RTCI Police will raise the cost of the service from $5 to $10 from June 1.
The move comes as part of an efficiency drive within the force, being overseen by new Director of Corporate Services, Peter Davis.
But despite the increase, Mr Davis insists the service represents ‘good value for money’, with the TCI’s fees remaining one of the lowest in the Caribbean.
He explained: “We have recently undertaken an extensive review of this service and what is clear is that the $5 we charge for police records and certificates of character doesn’t actually cover the cost of producing them.
“The $5 fee has been in place for many years and it has not changed despite continued inflation and other revenue considerations.
“Producing police records costs a lot of money in terms of staff hours, facilities and critical resources and so the increase is long overdue. But I would like to stress that even at $10 there is no profit and so the RTCI Police will not be making money from this.”
He added: “We acknowledge that this is an essential public service with people needing these important documents for immigration and employment purposes. But even at $10, the service remains great value for money and one of the cheapest in the Caribbean.
“I know of many other places where the public are charged more for similar police services and making money from this is certainly not our motive. Instead, it is simply a case of covering costs in production and making the best use of the budget in service provision.”
Meanwhile Mr Davis revealed that a corporate service review within the police service is on-going and will bring further changes.
He added: “The budget for the RTCI Police service is increasingly under pressure and ways of achieving savings and best value have to be found. The focus of maintaining police services whilst reducing cost and wastage.”
“We are looking at many different aspects of the organisation to see where savings can be made and where more resources can be directed towards day to day policing on the streets of the TCI.
“It’s a challenging process in change, but one that will remain ongoing as we seek to make this public sector service as cost effective and efficient as possible.”
