Deputy Commissioner of Police Tilford Johnson said yesterday that there will be more than 11,000 parish specials islandwide working in conjunction with the security forces on election day.

"They will come under the strict command of the police," said Deputy Commissioner Tilford Johnson, who dismissed reports that security guards will also be used.

"As far as I am concerned, there will be no security guards who will be assisting in any capacity with police powers for this election," he said.

The Deputy Commissioner said he has had exploratory talks with Director of Elections, Danville Walker, on the possibility of using security guards during election, against the background that they are persons with training.

However, Mr. Johnson said he listed certain conditions under which the security guards could be used, but an agreement did not materialise.

However, the parish specials will not be voting on Saturday with members of the security forces, instead they will cast their votes on election day.

"I think they might vote a little earlier," Mr. Johnson said.

With regard to the preparedness of the parish specials, the Deputy Commissioner said they had attended seminars and about 90 per cent of them had completed their training.

"The others should complete training by weekend," he said.

There are also reports that another batch of ballistic vests arrived in the island yesterday and according to Mr. Johnson, the riot shields which came last weekend were recently on display at their regular officers' conference.

Last week police personnel were involved in a drill in preparation for the election.

"It went smoothly. It was an exercise of what is likely to happen on election day, from a police standpoint," he said.