Police Week returns with a stacked line up of events

It’s September and in Antigua and Barbuda, that means the annual Police Week is here.

This year, law enforcement is offering some new and staple events.

One of which is this Sunday’s Worship without Walls Gospel concert.

“Well, we would have seen the recent trends that are happening in Antigua with the increase of crime and so on that’s happening in the nation and one of the ideas of the concert that we came behind is that why not dedicate at least, even if it’s half a day, even if it’s four hours, just to God...so after tackling with the idea, we came up with the concept of Worship Without Walls.

“It basically means taking worship beyond boundaries and letting God’s presence flow without restriction. Boundaries such as the physical boundaries, the spiritual, the cultural, the personal boundaries. It’s all about eliminating all the boundaries that we have to create a safe space where God can be worshipped, rising to new challenges and serving with greater education,” Corporal Iveen Miller explained, when asked about the inspiration behind the concert.

The concert will feature officers; children of officers and others linked to officers in some way.

“We want to serve, we want to show the public that beyond the gray and black or the blues or for fire and beyond the rescues, we have another side to us that will show us that we can show out our dedication to the people of Antigua and Barbuda.

“So, what we’re doing, we’re trying to encourage persons to come and partake to see a side of police, another side of police officers. We have the choir, the band. We have a few children that belong to police officers who will be dancing. (3:30) We have dances, we have a pan selection. So, it’s a variety of music,”Miller explained.

The concert which is free of charge will be held at the Precision Centre at 7pm.

It will follow the church service on Sunday morning which will officially open Police Week.

On Monday, September 8, police will host an Open Day at the Police Headquarters.

At the Open Day, persons interested in signing up to become a police officer can do so.

“So, if you want to become a police officer, they have the opportunity to come on Monday, fill out the application form to start the process of joining the police force at police headquarters for Open Day. If you’re interested, you can come, but they have an age limit, though,” Corporal Miller explained.

The crowd favourite Malcom Nicholas Cup is on the cards for this year and is scheduled for Monday afternoon in the corner of Market and High Street at 4p.m.

A day later, the fire and regular police department will battle it out in cricket and football. The cricket match will be at the Antigua Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) Grounds while the football game will be up at the Antigua Barbuda Football Association’s Technical Facility.

On that same day, the community will see the force out in its numbers as they plan to visit villages across the island.

In the evening, the Calypso Monarch competition is set. Eleven calypsonians will compete.

On Thursday, September 11, it will be their Sports Day and on Friday, the Cultural Food Fair will take place.

Fast forward to Saturday morning where the shooting competition at Crabbes is scheduled while in the evening the highly anticipated Drama night will take place at the Antigua Recreation Grounds (ARG) at 8p.m.

Admission is $30 for adults and $15 for children.

The Family fun day will be on Sunday, September 14, at Fryes Beach starting at 10 a.m.

“It is our day to give back to the community. We receive, so it’s time for us to give back. Police officers will be serving you, and you eat, and you drink to your heart’s full delight,” Miller added.

This year’s Police Week is under the theme ‘Rising to New Challenges and Serving with Greater Dedication’.