High Court to rule on ASP promotion challenge in December

THE High Court is expected to rule in December in the lawsuit brought by Insp Mark Hernandez, former head of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT), challenging the promotion process for assistant superintendents in the police service.

This means the promotion for that rank cannot take place until the court gives its final decision. There is currently an injunction stopping the commissioner from continuing the process for some 169 inspectors for the rank of ASP.

Justice Frank Seepersad had earlier expressed doubt about reaching a conclusion by year-end, given the myriad of applications involved in the case, including Hernandez's opposition to having the TT Police Service Social and Welfare Association join the lawsuit.

However, Hernandez has had a change of mind and is no longer objecting to the association's joining as an interested party.

In an e-mailed order, Seepersad adjourned the matter to December 17, when he is expected to rule.

In an affidavit, the association’s president, ASP Gideon Dickson said members asked the association to intervene as they want the promotion exercise completed before some of them reach the compulsory retirement age of 55 in the coming months.

Dickson said the association was not seeking to derail the case, but wanted to participate because the matter directly touches the interests of its members.

He said the last promotion exercise for ASPs took place in late 2018, and the six-year delay, he said, was “unreasonable and inordinate.”

Dickson said the stagnation in promoting inspectors has contributed to “an alarming attrition and brain drain” in the police, since second-division officers retire at 55 and first-division officers at 60.

He also said some members have completed the 2024 assessment process, and their advancement was being stymied. From membership feedback, he said they were satisfied the 2024 process, depite the concerns raised, was “fair, transparent and lawful.”

“The TTPSSWA stands for fairness, transparency, accountability for all its members and as such will not sit idly by as a casual observer if we consider those fundamentals to be at risk irrespective of status, socio-economic group or creed.”

Hernandez’s attorney Gerald Ramdeen also withdrew a separate application seeking permission to cross-examinecertain witnesses who had cited specific concerns over Odyssey Consult Inc, the consultancy firm that facilitated the assessments.

The firm filed an 84-page affidavit by its CEO, Anthony Watkins, after the court joined the company in the lawsuit on October 30.

Hernandez’s lawsuit disputes the procedural integrity of the police promotion assessment. It also questions the process’s fairness, transparency and adherence to police service regulations.

His attorneys, Ramdeen, along with Jagdeo Singh, Dayadai Harripaul and Nerissa Bala, contend that the process failed to follow proper guidelines and deprived qualified officers of fair advancement opportunities.

His colleague Insp Veneta Weaver-Ali, of the White Collar Crime Unit, made a similar complaint. She is represented by Jagdeo Singh, Karina Singh, Keston Lewis, Savitri Samaroo and Vashisht Seepersad.