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Caribbean Islands National Security
In the late 1980s, Bahamian security concerns focused on three
areas: the use of Bahamian waters and territory as a transit point
for the illegal transshipment of drugs; illegal immigration; and
the poaching of Bahamian fishing resources. Since 1980 the Royal
Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) has been the primary force in
combating these threats to national security. In 1986 the RBDF was
a 531-member force headed by a commander and headquartered at a
base at Coral Harbour on New Providence.
Government expenditures for the RBDF were US$9.1 million in
1984, approximately 2.5 percent of total government expenditures;
estimates for 1985 and 1986 spending were in the same range. In
late 1986, the force commissioned three new thirty-three-meter
craft, which greatly increased its effectiveness. The high-speed
boats were fitted with modern electronic surveillance and
navigational equipment to combat illegal immigration, poaching, and
smuggling. The RBDF also was equipped with one thirty-one-meter
patrol craft, five eighteen-meter craft, and several high-speed
boats for shallow water patrols in the Family Islands. In 1986 a
new dry dock was planned at Coral Harbour to allow the RBDF to
carry out its own maintenance and repairs. The force also had a
small air wing; in late 1986 plans called for a compound to be
established at Nassau International Airport. Basic training for
marines took place at Coral Harbour, whereas officers were trained
at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. Both marines and
officers were sent on special training courses to Canada, Britain,
and the United States.
Since 1980 the United States has assisted the Bahamas in
combating the transit of illegal drugs. In 1986 a joint
interdiction force was established. A joint docking facility was
planned, and the United States Congress provided four EC-2 carrierbased radar aircraft to track drug airplanes passing through the
Bahamas.
Internal security was provided by the Royal Bahamas Police
Force. The Police Force, headed by a commissioner, had a strength
of 1,447 in 1983, 75 percent of whom were concentrated in New
Providence. At the end of 1981, thirty-one police stations served
the Family Islands (excluding Grand Bahama). In the early 1980s,
police stations in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Great Abaco Island
(Marsh Harbour), Andros Island (Nicolls Town), the Bimini Islands
(Alice Town), and Eleuthera (Governor's Harbour and Rock Sound)
provided twenty-four-hour service, whereas other Family Islands
stations provided service for approximately ten to sixteen hours a
day.
Although both the defense and the police forces were generally
well regarded by the population, both had been beset by some drugrelated corruption. A Royal Commission of Inquiry in 1984 concluded
that corruption existed in the upper and lower levels of the Police
Force as well as in the Immigration Department and Customs
Department. Another problem in the Police Force in the 1980s was
police brutality, especially in the course of arrests or in
obtaining confessions. The Department of State's Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices for 1986 stated that police
brutality remained a problem; in 1986 both United States and
Bahamian detainees reported abuses.
In 1984 expenditures for the Police Force amounted to US$25.9
million, 7 percent of total government expenditures; estimates for
expenditures in 1985 and 1986 were for absolute increases of
approximately US$4 million for each year. The Police College
provided training for all recruits and refresher courses for
officers, police reservists, beach wardens, and local constables.
Recruits were given a twenty-week basic course, which included
physical training, self-defense, firearms use, and first aid. The
Fire Services Division consisted of regular fire brigades in New
Providence and Grand Bahama and voluntary fire brigades in the
Family Islands. The Criminal Investigation Department was
responsible for investigating major crime throughout the Bahamas.
In 1987 a planned reorganization of the Police Force was
expected to focus on general administration, the local and overseas
training of officers, and criminal investigation procedures.
Several additional police stations also were planned, and new
recruitment was expected to increase the strength of the force.
Improvements in transportation were expected, as concern continued
over transportation conditions for police in the Family Islands.
Bahamian prisons were operated by the Prisons Department of the
Ministry of National Security. In 1983 the department housed 806
prisoners: 100 female prisoners and 706 male prisoners, including
82 first offenders, 224 regular prisoners, 200 in medium security,
and 200 illegal immigrants. In the late 1980s, prisons were
reported to be overcrowded and unsanitary. In September 1986, the
Supreme Court noted that prison conditions constituted a "highly
unpleasant environment" and urged improvement. Much of the
overcrowding was caused by the detainment of Haitians for
immigration violations; they were routinely denied bail on the
basis that they would flee before prosecution. In 1986 Bahamian
human rights activists condemned the inhumane and degrading
facilities at Fox Hill Prison, the main prison on New Providence;
according to reports, 300 Haitians had been crowded in the prison
for two and one-half years awaiting deportation. The Department of
State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1986
noted that Nassau's downtown jail was crowded and dirty and that
food was barely adequate. The report also stated that the central
lockup facility at Freeport was unsanitary.
* * *
The best general guide to the Bahamas is the Bahamas
Handbook and Businessman's Annual, which provides a
comprehensive description of most aspects of Bahamian society,
including demographic, economic, and political details. Some of the
best studies of Bahamian history include Paul Albury's The Story
of the Bahamas (1975), Michael Craton's A History of the
Bahamas (1986), and Doris Johnson's The Quiet Revolution in
the Bahamas (1972). Craton's work also includes a concise
chapter on the Pindling era. The most comprehensive study, however,
of con- temporary Bahamian politics is provided by Colin A. Hughes
in Race and Politics in the Bahamas (1981). The best study
of the nation's economy is provided by the World Bank in The
Bahamas: Economic Report, published in 1986. Other current
sources of economic data are reports by the United Nations Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American
Development Bank, and the United States Department of Commerce. The
best source for demographic data is the government of the Bahamas,
which has published several population studies. The Department of
Statistics of the Bahamas also publishes accurate, informative
statistics in a variety of recurring reports. (For further
information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)
Data as of November 1987
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