Press Releases

This week, staff of The Office of the Commissioner of Police begin a financial management course, offered by the OCP in collaboration with RCIPS Police Welfare.

The overall objective of the course is to equip the participants with a thorough understanding of budgeting, getting out of debt, planning for the future, and the need for robust personal financial management tools and tips that link planning, budgeting, and results.

The course is based on the methods of the financial guru Dave Ramsey and is being facilitated by Mr. Michael Myles from Inspire Cayman Training. Dave Ramsey’s seven baby steps promise to help you achieve financial freedom, learn how to balance your funds, and grow your wealth.

“This course is about changing behaviour, which in turn helps to improve the financial position of our officers,” says Mr. Myles. “Financial Literacy is 80% behaviour and 20% education. We are not taught financial literacy in our homes, high schools and colleges. Because of this, our people face significant financial challenges managing their finances and building wealth. Consistent research has highlighted the connection between financial struggles, mental and medical illnesses. Our officers will be exposed to many challenges on the job, financial hardship should not be one of them. I applaud the OCP and RCIPS Police Welfare for gifting this course to their team. I look forward to working with these recruits to give them the resources to improve their financial habits for the better, especially at such an early stage in their careers. This will hopefully set them up for success from the start.”

The course runs for nine weeks, and this initial session began on Wednesday, 23 August. Because the number of participants is limited, there will be multiple sessions to ensure all staff have the opportunity to participate.

“The OCP is committed to developing our personnel and ensuring that they are equipped with the right skills to enhance our personal and professional capabilities. One of these skills is managing their finances responsibly,” says Chief Superintendent Brad Ebanks. “We are grateful to Mr. Myles for facilitating the training, and to Police Welfare for covering the costs.”

“As the name suggests, the role of Police Welfare is to support the well-being of our officers and other staff,” says Welfare Representative Inspector Dian Dyer-Alexander. “We were pleased to fund this training, as when it comes to overall well-being, financial literacy is one of the most important life-skills one can have.”

“We are happy to host this course as a supplement to the officer training programme these recruits are already embarking on,” says Superintendent Adrian Seales, head of the Training & Development Unit. “This will enable them to graduate as trainee constables who are equipped with the necessary knowledge and habits to succeed, not just professionally, but in their personal lives as well.”