Police Service Commission yet to complete CoP's 1st job appraisal

POLICE COMMISSIONER Gary Griffith, who will celebrate two years on the job in two months, is yet to be appraised by his employer – the Police Service Commission (PSC) – on his performance during his first year in office.

Sunday Newsday was not given a reason for the lengthy delay but was told that the report was not completed and has been in abeyance since late last year.

The five-member team consisting of chairman Bliss Seepersad and members Martin George, retired Commodore Anthony Franklin, Dr Susan Craig-James and Roger Kawalsingh were constitutionally obligated to appraise Griffith on his performance and regularly communicate with him regarding his leadership. The tenure of two of the members, George and Franklin, ended in February and April and the appraisal was not done.

On June 5, Parliament agreed with the President’s submission and added human resource specialist Courtney Mc Nish to the PSC. A fifth person, Dr Simon Alexis, was also nominated and his acceptance will be debated in Parliament soon.

Seepersad’s tenure ends in March 2021 while Craig-James’ ends in June next year as well. Kawalsingh’s term expires in June 2022 and Mc Nish’s term will end in June 2023.

Sunday Newsday contacted Seepersad in late May about the PSC’s failure to assess Griffith and was told that the PSC is fully functional with three members since it had a quorum and “we are doing our work.” She then said she had another call and hung up.

Griffith, when contacted, said he had no comment on the issue as his appraisal was the job of the PSC and he was not getting involved.

The PSC selects both the commissioner and deputy commissioners of police and submits the nominees for Parliament to decide who gets the nod. The confirmed posts of three Deputy Commissioners of Police are still outstanding as nominees were rejected by Parliament.

After his first anniversary, Griffith held a media conference where he said he was not satisfied with his performance, although there were major achievements, including a reduction in the murder toll.

He said then: “I am not here to judge myself; the public can judge me, positive or negative. My aim is to do the best I can do and I did everything that I could have done. My main concern is that the TTPS did all that they could have done. My officers were going above and beyond their duty.”

Griffith added that his officers had a rejuvenated spirit and were encouraged to do more and wanted now for the public to have hope, trust and faith in them and one of his main jobs now was to “bring back hope in the country.”

Based on a satisfaction survey done in 2019 by the police service, 76 per cent of those polled claimed they had confidence in Griffith, compared to 49 per cent in his predecessor Stephen Williams. Women were more likely to rate him as excellent compared to men.

According to 723 people telephoned for the survey, 65 per cent rated him as either excellent or very good.

Of those who were polled, 95 per cent supported the police initiatives and only 14 per cent had no confidence in the police.

With Griffith not satisfied with himself for the first year, a former PSC head said the fact that he was not appraised is worrisome.

Nizam Mohammed, who was removed as chair of the PSC after comments he made on the ethnic composition of the police service hierarchy, accused the PSC of failing on the job.

Sunday Newsday spoke with Mohammed in late May about the complement of the PSC at the time and the fact that one of its main objectives is outstanding. He said the fact the PSC was two members short and yet to complete the commissioner’s appraisal was unacceptable and a sign that the PSC was not doing its job.

“This does not augur well for the police service and the structure of the police service. The PSC is not doing its work and that is not acceptable. The service commissions are important institutions in the country and should be fully functional at all times.”

He added: “It is strange that the PSC is not fully functional. This is one organisation that should at all times be very, very active. There ought to be some kind of explanation why the body has not had its full complement. If the law provides a membership of five, the law ought to be respected.