For a better experience on RCIPS, UPDATE YOUR BROWSER. The Firearms Response Unit (FRU) of the RCIPS provides the Service’s armed response capability with 24-hour coverage. Within the firearms unit, there is also a team deployed to planned police operations. All firearms officers professionally and skillfully intervene and respond during incidents potentially involving firearms or other weapons, including the arrest of high-risk suspects.
FRU officers undergo continuous and rigorous training to ensure they meet the high standards of physical and psychological fitness their roles demand, and also maintain their skills and readiness to handle any situation as effectively and safely as possible. Many FRU officers receive training in emergency medical care, maximizing their ability to save lives in any situation. Their lifesaving efforts have been noted at the scenes of several deadly incidents.
The Unit is headed by an acting inspector, four acting sergeants and thirty-six constables. FRU Officers regularly work with the Cayman Islands Coast Guard and CTF on intelligence-led operations to interdict the importation of drugs and firearms into the jurisdiction. Another main priority of the Unit is to remove illegal firearms already on the islands, and they have contributed significantly to the total of twenty firearms seized by the RCIPS in 2017, the highest number seized to date.
Police Inspector Fernando Soto oversees the Firearms Response Unit.
The 30-year-old man who was arrested following the recovery of a firearm from his vehicle on 1 March has now been charged by the police with Possession of an Unlicensed Firearm, and two counts of Possession of an Unlicensed Firearm (Ammunition).
It is now just over one year since the shooting incident that occurred on the 25 February 2024, at the Ed Bush Stadium in West Bay, that resulted in the wounding of seven men, who, along with many others, including children, were attending a football match.
