CoP merit list already in place, Erla to be replaced
The House of Representatives is expected to meet early next week to debate a notification from the President for the appointment of an acting Commissioner of Police.
This has become necessary because of the arrest of Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher in connection with the alleged importation of two sniper rifles for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) in 2023.
It is felt that the Police Service Commission (PolSC) has to find a way to separate Christopher-Harewood from active duty.
After that process is completed, then the process required to activate the appointment of an acting Commissioner of Police will take place.
That process involves presenting to President Christine Kangaloo the next name on the merit list for acting Commissioner.
There is already a merit list in place, sources pointed out.
In June 2023 the Judith Jones-led PolSc developed an Order of Merit list policy for making acting appointments to the offices of Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police. In a statement announcing the new policy, the PolSc advised that Legal Notice 277 of 2021, as amended by Legal Notice 278 of 2021, allows the Commission to establish and maintain an Order-of-Merit list for acting appointments. It also requires that all eligible officers be placed on the List ranked by merit. The PolSc explained then that the Order-of-Merit List shall include officers holding or acting in the office of Assistant and Deputy Commissioner of Police and possess the qualifications and experience required for appointment to the offices of Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police. Lawyers the Express spoke to said they expected the PolSc to exercise extreme caution because any action must stand scrutiny, including scrutiny by a court of law.
Deosaran: Quick action required
Meanwhile, former PolSC chairman Ramesh Deosaran and former deputy chairman of the PolSc, attorney Martin George, said yesterday that quick action by the PolSc on this matter at this time was crucial.
“Quick action by the relevant authorities is now urgently required,” Deosaran said.
He said it is notable that the Government’s majority in the Parliament was used under the Police Service Act to extend Harewood-Christopher’s tenure as CoP by one year rather than allow the PolSC to intervene, monitor and take action under Section 123 to appoint a new Commissioner or an acting Commissioner. “After all, it was the CoP who admitted several high-profile failures and broken security promises,” he said.
Deosaran said a fair and diligent PolSc enquiry with due process was therefore required by the PolSc rather than leaving the police service to appear disreputable. “It is now urgent and necessary for the PolSc to possibly consider what action it can now take under Section 123 (c) (d) for a just and fair conclusion and before the CoP’s term of office expires in May 2025,” he said. He added that Section 123 (d) of the Constitution states that the PolSc “shall have the power to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of any discharge of the functions” of the CoP and DCP. Section 123 (c) .
Deosaran said the arrest and detention of Harewood-Christopher could not have come at a worse time, given the public fear of serious crime, a disturbing murder rate, a low detection rate, a “controversial” state of emergency, a Carnival season, an impending change of prime ministership and a “noisy” and imminent general election.
“This bombshell action against the Commissioner of Police not only helps to unsettle the police service but also shakes up public confidence in our public safety and security,” he said.
He said while the nation awaits the required due process and the hard evidence obtained, the fact that the CoP is being questioned over the alleged importation of high-powered rifles and ammunition linked to the enquiry into the Strategic Services Agency raised serious issues over the country’s national security and Government’s security apparatus.
George: Cop should be sent on administrative leave
George said the Commissioner of Police should be sent on administrative leave and the Prime Minister, as head of the National Security Council, needs to make a statement on the issue. (The PM spoke on the issue yesterday evening).
“If it is that the Commissioner of Police is being questioned in relation to certain alleged offences, then it may be prudent for the Police Service Commission at this time to issue a directive, sending her on administrative leave immediately and make steps to appoint an acting Commissioner of Police in her stead,” George said.
He said it was “desperately necessary for the Police Service Commission to step up to the plate and seek to immediately restore public trust and confidence in the police service and seek to immediately restore public trust and confidence in the Police Service.
“We need that type of decision leadership now. It is not possible to ignore this or to pretend that this is not happening. There have been previous iterations of the Police Service Commission, which have chosen to remain numb and dumb in the face of raging crises within the Police Service. This is not an option any more,” he said.
George said even the National Security Council, which is headed by the Prime Minister, needs to come out and make a clear, decisive statement on the matter “because it would appear at this time that we are operating in a rudderless manner without guidance, without direction, without leadership, without any head, directing and controlling the operations of our national security apparatus. And that is not good for Trinidad and Tobago, particularly while we are under a state of emergency. This is the time for persons to step up, perform their roles, perform their constitutional duty and ensure that a level of stability, clarity and direction to the national security apparatus can be achieved. Because at this point it would appear that instead of us having a state of national security, we are all functioning in a state of national insecurity,” George stated.
BY: RIA TAITT
CoP merit list already in place, Erla to be replaced
