The Tribune

FORMER Royal Bahamas Police Force Assistant Commissioner Paul Thompson celebrated his 90th birthday at a well-attended party at police headquarters on Saturday, surrounded by family, friends and former colleagues.

The event, held at the Paul Farquharson Conference Centre, drew a large crowd and was punctuated by performances from the RBPF Pop Band.

Notable speakers included former Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson, who was also former High Commissioner to London, US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Gerard Forrester, and former head of RBPF Fire Services Ivan Blackman, who all recalled memorable experiences they had while working with the celebrated police officer.

During his remarks, Mr Farquharson said he regarded Mr Thompson as the father he didn’t have, recalling how the former senior officer helped him with his career and assisted him in getting his first promotion to corporal.

He also recalled how Mr Thompson helped many police officers receive training in England, worked hard to boost officer morale and was instrumental in the creation of the RBPF’s Police Staff Association.

He recalled Mr Thompson’s illustrious career as a police officer, and said it was a path he had tried to emulate.

For his part, Mr Forrester regaled the crowd with tales of how he used to visit the Bahamas to work on cases and spoke of several instances when Mr Thompson helped the US law enforcement agency capture most wanted criminals who were on the run in Nassau.

Throughout that time, the former FBI agent and Mr Thompson became good friends.

Mr Thompson has several accolades from the FBI, including letters of commendation from former FBI directors J Edgar Hoover and William Webster.

During his speech, Mr Thompson recalled his time working at the former Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a unit he was assigned to in 1952 and remained in for 17 years.

He thanked several officers he had served with over the years, including former Deputy Commissioner Sir Albert Miller, now deceased.

He also recalled the opportunities he had for training in Yorkshire and Scotland, where he spent three months, and his experience working with Interpol in Paris on two occasions.

He later helped set up an Interpol office in Nassau.

Other speakers included Jamaican Consul Patrick Hanlan, Sylvester George, former director of the RBPF Band, and Mr Thompson’s daughters who spoke of their close family relationship.

A number of prominent guests attended, including Assistant Commissioners of Police Samuel Butler and Paul Rolle, and Anne Marie Davis, wife of Official Opposition Philip “Brave” Davis who could not attend because he was in Grand Bahama.

Mr Thompson was born in a small farming village in Trinidad. He was recruited by the RBPF in 1951. He spent most of his time on the force at CID before retiring in 1981 as an assistant commissioner.

He then began a second career as head of security for the Paradise Island Resort & Casino, returning to the police force as a civilian training officer in 1998, and in 2002 was appointed general manager of Wemco Security.

He later set up his own security company - Paul Thompson & Associates.

Mr Thompson has written several columns for The Tribune and is frequently interviewed by the media for his views on crime and the state of the police force.

He has seven children—five girls and two boys, one deceased.

He turned 90 on July 19.