Farley: No faith in police long before Erla

THA CHIEF Secretary Farley Augustine said the public had lost faith in the police long before Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher was suspended.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) suspended Harewood-Christopher from duty on January 31, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation into the acquisition of two sniper rifles for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).

Harewood-Christopher was arrested on January 30 and released on February 1.

It was just the second time in Trinidad and Tobago's history that a CoP had been arrested. Randolph Burroughs was the first.

Harewood-Christopher’s attorney Pamela Elder, SC, has written to PSC chairman Dr Wendell Wallace challenging her suspension.

In a letter on February 3, she demanded that the PSC rescind the suspension and warned that failure to do so would result in judicial review proceedings against the commission.

Elder said there was no evidence of misconduct against her client, and described the suspension as “shocking, unlawful and ultra vires.”

Parliament is expected to meet on February 5 to debate the PSC’s nomination of DCP Junior Benjamin to act as CoP during the probe.

Speaking to reporters on February 4 after the launch of the ScotiaRISE TT initiative for vulnerable communities at Blue Waters Inn, Speyside, Tobago, Augustine said he has not spoken to the island’s top brass or police officers, generally, about Harewood-Christopher’s suspension.

He also declined to share his personal view on the matter.

“I am just minding my business – and that (suspension) is the business of the head of the National Security Council, and the National Security Council is not a fifth schedule item (under the THA),” Augustine said.

Asked how he felt about Harewood-Christopher’s decision to challenge her suspension, Augustine said, “I think a lawyer will be better poised to answer that question. That is a legal one.”

On whether the public’s perception of the police has eroded as a result of the investigation into the CoP, he added, “That was eroding long before this. So this just adds to it.”