Keep politics outand appoint a CoP

THE EDITOR: It is long past the time when the Government of the day (current and past), working through Parliament, should have brought to an end the patently untenable and dysfunctional cycle of temporary appointments to the post of Commissioner of Police (CoP). The psychological and other damage to the country — and to the in particular — of this stop-gap arrangement is too high.

It is time to send a message to the citizenry, the police, would-be investors, the criminals and the world that we are serious about the arrangements we have put in place to protect and serve all residents. One major signal in this regard would be to appoint a substantive CoP as soon as possible. The time — five years — and money — $7 million — have been expended in this regard. Let us get on with it.

Using the results of the work done by the international business services firm KPMG, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has made recommendations for appointments to the posts of CoP and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

Now there is no reason whatsoever to question the professionalism and competence of KPMG in the selection process. At the same time it is the job of the PSC to review the recommendations from KPMG and to make up its own mind as to who it would recommend for appointment. That is part of the mandate of the PSC.

Accordingly, it is my respectful view that as long as the PSC has made recommendations for appointments to these posts based on its review and assessment of the shortlisted candidates submitted by KPMG, the PSC’s recommendations should be accepted and the appointments made as soon as possible.

Considerations about whether or not candidates applied for the posts for which they are recommended by the PSC are irrelevant. So long as the candidates recommended are indeed in the shortlists from KPMG, then the PSC has acted properly and the recommendations should be approved.

Should Parliament (read the Government) do otherwise and reject the PSC’s recommendation for the post of CoP, this would be to signal, at a minimum, that it has no confidence in the PSC. At which point, if I were a commission member, I would resign immediately.

Let’s keep cheap politics out of this and make the appointments. The country needs this now.

ASHTON S BRERETON via e-mail

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"Keep politics outand appoint a CoP"

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