Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said last week that officers will soon begin shutting down web shops found operating outside the framework of the new gaming laws.
The commissioner warned that patrons found in such venues would be arrested and charged with breaking the law, while gaming equipment would be confiscated.
He said while the hands of the police were tied in the past, they now have the information they need to take action. Following the new rules for legalized gaming, which came into effect on November 24, the Gaming Board provided police with a list of all the web shops that have applied for regularization.
"We will follow the letter of the law, which is crystal clear," Greenslade said. The commissioner does not have to dance around anybody or anything because we did not have the ability to do what we needed to do. We will in fact go in (and) arrest those people that we find illegally gambling. We are going to take the equipment and we will confiscate the equipment."
The gung-ho attitude and display of independence on the part of the commissioner is commendable.
The public should keep in mind, however, that this is not the first time we have heard such fighting words.
In September of last year, the letter of the law, as it stood at the time, was also crystal clear: All web shops offering gaming activities were breaking the law. At the time, they were all subject to being shut down - a fact repeatedly attested to by Commissioner Greenslade himself, who issued a series of calls for the operators to cease and desist.
In response to criticism, following the failed January 2013 referendum which would have legalized gaming, that the police were slow to act, Greenslade asked the public "not to put a time limit" on law enforcement, adding that "when you least expect it, you may see lots of activity from the police department."
He claimed the police were waiting so as to ensure that "the element of surprise" was on their side.
But action - surprising or otherwise - never came, despite the promises of both the police and the government to respect the outcome of the referendum.
When after months of police inaction, it was announced that gambling would be legalized and the will of the public ignored after all, many were upset but few were really surprised.
The word all along had been that certain web shop operators had supported the PLP's campaign financially in 2012 and that the new government felt compelled to assist them in turn.
Today, with those operators securely among the ranks of those who have applied for gaming licenses and been ratified, it is surely a much more convenient time, politically speaking, for the commissioner to follow bold words with real action.
Let us all hope then, that this time, the police truly have no one to "dance around" in the fulfillment of their duties.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian