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Senior politicians have waded into the discussion around Guernsey Police's botched recruitment campaign, saying that it was "well-intended" but "clearly missed the mark".
Statements have been made by Policy & Resources President Gavin St Pier and Home Affairs President Mary Lowe.
Deputy Lowe said the committee had not been involved in the making of the video, which was an operational matter.
“It is not the role of the Committee for Home Affairs, or any political body, to get involved in the detail of recruitment campaigns for any of the services that come under its mandate, that is the responsibility of the officers that manage them," she said.
Pictured: Deputy Lowe said her initial reaction to the film was that it "didn’t fully reflect the broader role of our police [...] as a service that puts that community first."
"But I have of course seen the reaction and concerns expressed by some of our community to how the video portrays our police force. Like many I’ve taken some time to reflect and I recognise that, whilst well-intended, the video clearly missed the mark, and therefore I welcome the Chief of Police’s decision to remove the video.
Deputy St Pier said he hoped the video "does not impact the very positive image Guernsey has acquired this year for its handling of the Covid pandemic."
"While police recruitment is of course a matter for the police and not for politicians, I’m aware of the public reaction and national media interest in the recent film," he said. "Personally, I do share some of the concerns expressed."
Would love to hear local PRs’ views on this. I’m struggling to believe that any stunt which ends up with the Police Chief apologising to the public could be considered an all-round PR success, even if recruitment picks up https://t.co/ShieLkUTty
— Jim Falla (@argyllscricket) August 6, 2020
Pictured: The video has drawn a wide range of views from people, with some noting the huge amount of publicity Guernsey has received for better and worse.
"Our police force has always been one whose focus has been supporting the community with care and compassion, something they have doneincredibly well particularly this year as we’ve faced the Covid pandemic, and my view is that whilst this video reflects some aspects of policing, it does not properly reflect the full range of police activities in a balanced way.
"I appreciate that it was likely meant to be nothing more than a showcase of some of the more specialist parts of police work, but I think the delivery did not match that aim.
"In my personal opinion, it was a mistake and these do happen from time to time. But the important thing is to learn from them. In this case, the lesson is that we need to have appropriate quality assurance so we have consistency in our messaging across the public service."
Pictured top: Deputies Mary Lowe and Gavin St Pier.
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