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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago
The freshly-minted Police Service Commission, as its first order of business, hopes to tackle the appointment of a new Police Commissioner and the matter of cases being discharged for want of failing police prosecution.
Transcript
00:00The newly instated Police Service Commission has some high hopes for its
00:04term of office. Senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies Dr.
00:09Wendell Wallace hopes to move swiftly with the vetting of applicants for the
00:13post of Commissioner of Police. Sitting Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher
00:18whose tenure has been the subject of public criticism comes to an end in mid
00:23May 2025. The intention is to move forward with the appointment of the new
00:29Commissioner. One of the things that I have in mind is to ensure that there is
00:34a suitable rubric for the appointment of Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners
00:39because from my understanding is that there is no definitive rubric. So that's
00:44something that I would like to work on as a matter of priority. Harewood-Christopher
00:49reached the age of retirement in May 2023 and was given a one-year extension
00:55until 2024 and this year a second extension until 2025. This means
01:02according to the Police Service Act she's eligible for one more consecutive
01:06one-year extension. A researcher himself Dr. Wallace believes decisions ought to
01:11be data-driven and that is where he intends to focus his attention. One of
01:17the things that as the Chairman I intend to work with the team is to ensure that
01:23the Police Service is fully functional. One of the things I intend to do is to work
01:28with the Commissioner to ensure that you have a trickle-down effect. For example
01:34I would like to see greater accountability as a researcher as well
01:38because that's my primary function. You know just last year I looked at the very
01:43last report and I found that while the report was good there's much more that
01:47could have been done. So for example you want to know what the people in Tobago
01:52think about policing and not just Trinidad and Tobago. You want to break it
01:56down into narrower areas. And yes the matter of extortion cases falling apart and
02:01accused police officers being discharged did catch the incoming chair's attention.
02:07And certainly one of the things I intend to do is to push for and again I want to be very
02:13careful here unless I be misinterpreted right. I want to ensure that the
02:20executive gets the message that you need to ensure that those under your
02:27jurisdiction that they do things in line with policing. Certainly I can't
02:33understand why a file has to take so long to get to the DPP. So I'll be
02:39working closely with the team. In fact I should say we'll be working closely with the
02:43Commissioner to ensure that you know these files are submitted on time.
02:48And definitely he says there ought to be accountability for those who run afoul of the law.
02:54If trust is lost in the police service then we are in a really bad place.
02:58And I'm not saying for one moment that the trust is lost but we need to work
03:02towards getting the trust, getting the public to trust the police and that in
03:07itself. When you build trust you build legitimacy in policing.
03:11Dr. Wallace says he does not see any conflict nor overlap with his positions on the
03:16Police Service Commission and the Election and Boundaries Commission.
03:20Other members of the board of the Police Service Commission are Ian Ramdhani who
03:25is the only member reappointed from the previous board, Attorney Anika Fitzbrown,
03:30Management Executive Raja Baburam and HR Executive Afal Hector-Bockley.
03:36Urvashi Tewari, Rupanarayan TV 6 News.
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