New deputy commissioner of police appointed |19 September 2014

Brigadier Vernon Hunter is the new deputy commissioner of police in the Seychelles police force. He was appointed on September 15, 2014 according to a communiqué received from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Transport.

Prior to accepting the position, Brigadier Hunter was the provincial head of the operational response service of the South African police service in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

The communiqué adds that Mr Hunter is a career officer with 42 years of distinguished police service with the South African police service.

In his new role, deputy commissioner of police Hunter will report directly to the commissioner of police, Ernest Quatre, to fully support the mission of the Seychelles police force and to drive the professional development processes of the force.

“The police force continues to evolve as we improve upon the capacity of our police officers. The arrival of our new deputy commissioner is another step in the right direction as his experience and background will add value to our force. I look forward to working with him to deliver against our stated goals and objectives,” said police commissioner Quatre.

Home Affairs and Transport Minister Joël Morgan, who has responsibility for the police, said: “Over the past three years we have in a systematic manner worked to improve the level of police service so that efficiencies and the level of professionalism are improved upon. Deputy commissioner of police Vernon Hunter and the experience he brings is another important element to our over-all plans.”

Mr Hunter is 59 years and holds a Bachelor’s degree in policing from the Technikon Institute, Republic of South Africa.

He joined the South African police service as a trainee student constable on September 13, 1971 and was deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo to provide tactical operational advisory help during elections in 2006.

In 2011, he was again deployed to Equatorial Guinea to provide tactical advisory help during the African Union Summit and that same year he went to Miami, Florida, USA to attend a cross-border crime combating study tour.