Bad timing

GIVEN that the country is in the throes of an unprecedented spike in murders, two recent developments relating to the operations of this country’s law-enforcement authorities are incredibly badly timed.

It is disappointing the State continues to be embroiled in a billion-dollar conflict with, effectively, itself over security cameras.

And it is simply outrageous that a decision has been taken to approve the vacation leave of acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob at this moment in our nation’s history.

In relation to the State’s payment dispute with the Telecommunications Services of TT, it is hard to understand how a company that is 51 per cent owned by the Government could be at loggerheads with its ownership.

Given the sensitivity and seriousness of the matters under dispute relating to the CCTV network, it is equally baffling that this conflict, which goes back at least to 2020, is still ongoing.

The State made an attempt to settle the matter to the tune of $200 million in July 2020, but there was reportedly no response from TSTT. What did the State do thereafter?

Whatever the legal nuances of this conflict, which is before arbitration, no such complexities arise in the case of Mr Jacob’s vacation.

Quite simply, now is not the time for the top cop to step back.

Even top cops need vacations. Nobody wants burnt-out officials running the show.

And in the case of Mr Jacob, there is the aggravated factor of his being made to serve in a system that has done a tremendous disservice to a string of high-ranking police officers who have, collectively, given this country decades’ worth of service.

It is a disgrace that the system for appointing commissioners of police is so unwieldy, so convoluted, so politicised as to result in individuals being made to act in the post, sometimes for years on end, all the while never receiving the gravitas, respect and compensation that would be afforded a substantive post-holder.

But each acting top cop must head to bed at night mindful not of these factors but of the weight of their responsibilities.

Mr Jacob went to bed on Thursday night after giving the country two reasons why it was the right time for him to go on vacation. He did not have his three deputies in place before now, he said in interviews. And given the murder situation earlier this year, it would not have made “much sense” to go then.

Now that murders are at an all-time high, Mr Jacob feels it acceptable to step away.

Given that the Police Service Commission is due to install a new commissioner in 2023, this may well turn out to be one of his final missteps.