Recently, the Minister of Justice, Arthur Dowers, Esq., BA, MA, paid a visit to the Detective Department (Recherche) in Wayaca, where he met with officials from the department to discuss, among other things, the shortage of personnel.
Minister Dowers indicated that recently several detectives have retired or received promotions and continued to advance within the Police Force (Cuerpo Policial Aruba – KPA). Seeing that no new police officers had been recruited for several years, the department was left with limited personnel, something that naturally creates pressure on daily operations and case management.
Minister Dowers indicated that within the Aruban Police Force, there are qualified personnel who can join the Detective Department to help strengthen it. The Minister of Justice informed that a few weeks ago, he had already instructed the executives of KPA to ensure that there are sufficient detectives available to handle the volume of cases managed by the department.
Minister Dowers assured that this matter has his full attention and that he is actively working with the leadership of KPA to bring about solutions as quickly as possible. This is to create more peace of mind both for the detectives and for the citizens who have filed complaints and deserve the reassurance that their cases are receiving the necessary attention.
In relation to a publication by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Openbaar Ministerie), which emphasized that the shortage of personnel at the Detective Department is due to budget cuts by the Government, Minister Dowers indicated that cuts were made to the budget for “goods and services” and not on personnel.
On the contrary, it was precisely during his first year in office as Minister of Justice in 2025 that care was taken to recruit applicants for a new police class, and in the first half of 2026, another new class of applicants was recruited for KPA, as well as for the correctional institution (KIA), with more on the way.
The Minister of Justice will continue to work to solve this shortage and take concrete actions to strengthen the operational capacity of the Detective Department and the Police Force.