Neither the Cayman Islands nor the Turks and Caicos Islands had armed forces--either under local or under British control. Each territory did, however, have a small local police force that was under British control.

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Force (RCIP), with limited resources, was considered one of the best in the Caribbean. The police totaled 170, of whom 161 were stationed on Grand Cayman and the remainder on Cayman Brac. They were supported by volunteer special constables. The RCIP had three main departments: General Duties Department, Criminal Investigation Department, and Traffic Department. The Criminal Investigation Department included the Special Branch, the Commercial Crime Branch, the Drug Squad, and the Crime Intelligence Section. The Maritime Section, with three boats at Grand Cayman and one at Cayman Brac, performed coastal patrol duties. British instructors provided police training. The islands had only one prison, with a maximum capacity of twenty inmates. Major offenders were sometimes transferred to prisons on Jamaica.

The crime rate in the Cayman Islands was low. Efforts against drug trafficking were moderately successful, with 140 drug arrests in 1982. The RCIP Drug Squad received technical assistance from the United States DEA.

Data as of November 1987

NOTE: The information regarding Cayman Islands on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cayman Islands National Security information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cayman Islands National Security should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.