New RGP Commissioner Owain Richards is sworn in

Minutes after being sworn in as the new Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police early Tuesday morning, Owain Ceri Richards made clear his first priority in the job: to listen.

Mr Richards was sworn in during a short ceremony at The Convent in the presence of dignitaries including the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst; Chief Minister Fabian Picardo; Chief Justice Anthony Dudley; and senior representatives from the RGP including Acting Commissioner Cathal Yeats, alongside Commander British Forces Commodore Tom Guy, the Gibraltar Defence Police’s Chief of Police John McVea, and Peter Montegriffo, the chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority.

“I think it is important that my first priority is to listen to the concerns,” the Commissioner told the Chronicle.

“What is working for the Royal Gibraltar Police? What's not working?”

“And that means listening to the workforce, listening to communities and listening to those who govern.”

“Because ultimately, I need the tools to do the job.”

“So my first three months will be about reviewing the capabilities, the capacity, the resources that are available to me in order me to deliver the safety and the security that we need.”

Part of that process will include meetings over the next fortnight with senior Spanish law enforcement officers in the Campo, given the changes that will arise from the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc.

Mr Richards, previously a Commander in the Metropolitan Police with experience leading teams tackling serious and complex crime, has been appointed Commissioner for four years.

Having also served with Dyfed-Powys Police, he also has experience of policing in small communities and said his move here is personal as well as professional, adding he and his family hope to integrate into the community.

But there is no escaping that Mr Richards takes over as Commissioner after a difficult period for the RGP, a force that has lost many experienced officers against the backdrop of the McGrail Inquiry, and whose morale has been dented.

Mr Richards was understandably cautious about the Inquiry, whose chairman, Sir Peter Openshaw, has yet to deliver his final report.

But he acknowledged the challenge and how he intends to respond.

“The McGrail inquiry is on a lot of people's minds,” he said.

“It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specifics of the Inquiry until the report is published.”

“I will take that report very seriously.”

“I will review the recommendations within it and I hope that it will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from the past for all of the parties subject to the Inquiry, in order for us to improve the way things are done here, the way policing is delivered.”

“My officers will want that, I'm sure the Government will want that, and the Governor as well.”

“So I'm here for the future. I'm not going to dwell on the past, but I will take the lessons from the past forward.”

He acknowledged that the past years “have been very challenging for the Royal Gibraltar Police and its workforce”.

“I want to make sure that the officers are well led,” he added.

“I want to make sure that they have the equipment to do their job…and also that they are recognised and properly rewarded for the job that they do.”

The Commissioner recognised too that recruitment and retention were key challenges for the RGP, adding he wanted to explore how best to attract “fresh talent” from Gibraltar and, “if appropriate”, from the UK too.

The aim is to ensure a “diverse workforce” of people who want to serve the community, a job that is difficult given Gibraltar’s size.

“Policing is a very unique job in many respects, and when you're policing in a tight knit community where people are connected through family or through work, it's often quite challenging for [officers] because very often they know who they've arrested,” he said.

Earlier during the swearing in ceremony, guests were addressed by both the Governor and the Chief Minister.

Sir Ben first thanked Mr Yeats for his 28 years of “extremely loyal service to Gibraltar”, as well as Mr Montegriffo and the GPA for their work.

He also thanked the Government of Gibraltar, adding: “Security of the nation is one of the most important responsibilities of the Government, and of course here in Gibraltar, part of that responsibility falls to me but it must be a true partnership, as the funding is a responsibility of the Government, who in turn are accountable to the people.”

In addressing guests, the Chief Minister put the controversies of the past years centre stage.

Mr Picardo said that in an age when all institutions were “rightly questioned”, it was important that this applied too to policing to ensure it was done “in keeping with all of the rules and objectives set out for that purpose, just like governing must be done with all of the rules and objectives set for that purpose”.

Mr Picardo said Mr Richards had been “the strongest candidate” and that Gibraltar should never be afraid to recruit the best person for the job.

“But we must not put our heads in the sand, we must not be ostriches,” he added.

“We must ask ourselves why, for the first time since the 1990s, it has been necessary that a Commissioner is appointed from outside Gibraltar.”

And he added: “We must always remind ourselves that if we had had it as we might have wished, we would not have opened the field beyond Gibraltar.”

“And we had to. And we must not for one moment be ignorant of the fact.”

Mr Picardo said he “sincerely believed” this was the beginning of a new and positive chapter for the RGP.

Addressing guests immediately after the Chief Minister, Mr Richards said he would take on his new responsibilities “with humility and determination”, adding policing in Gibraltar was “unlike anywhere else”.

He set out three key priorities, including ensuring the safety and security of Gibraltar; investing in the RGP workforce and its resources; and driving collaboration “in the widest sense”.

“We operate in a proud, close knit and dynamic community, one, as the Chief Minister said, that rightly expects high standards from its police service,” he said.

“In return, we must earn trust through visible, policing integrity and fairness in all that we do.”