ACP Archie bows out

Assistant Commissioner of Police Joanne Archie will be retiring from the Trinidad and Tobago police service, she announced on Monday, live during the Beyond the Tape programme on CCN TV6. She was congratulated by hosts Marlan Hopkinson and Supt Roger Alexander, plus several people calling in to the show.

"Forty years plus is a lot to give to the police service, and the only reason I am still here is the love of the job. It had been quite challenging. Policing is a challenging profession. It's not for the faint-hearted."

She naturally gravitated to policing, saying her father had been a police officer, plus a brother and sister and several cousins.

"I really cannot see advantage being taken of persons, you know, the vulnerable persons. I loved and still love what I am doing and stayed 40 years because of the love of the profession."

She recalled getting a police commendation after chasing and arresting a bandit after a store robbery in San Fernando.

Archie said the police service was still a noble organisation, in which a young woman could rise.

"You can be anything you want to be, once you set your vision, find your purpose and work hard towards it."

She said the job was all about trying to make a difference to the country, even when sometimes one was under-resourced.

Archie told Newsday that within a few days' time she would reach the retirement age for her rank which is 60.