Cabinet quells Erla chaos

THE HIGHEST number of murders ever recorded in this country’s modern history occurred under the tenure of Erla Harewood-Christopher. Yet, that fact is likely to be forgotten given the dramatic and needlessly prolonged way this commissioner of police’s tenure has come to an end.

The Cabinet’s public intervention in this matter on May 14 goes some way towards quelling what has been, simply put, utter chaos.

It confirms a deep contradiction of our Constitution: there is a clear need for government to be involved in aspects of policing while, at the same time, there is an equally urgent imperative to remove all semblance of politics from both the police and its oversight. It is a contradiction that is at the root of our endless top-cop travails.

To say the country has been in the throes of a scandal does not fully capture the bizarre waltz that has unfolded since Ms Harewood-Christopher was dramatically arrested at the Police Administration Building, Port of Spain, on January 31 at the height of a state of emergency. She was incarcerated for two nights. That bang was how it began.

It all ended with a whimper on May 14 when the Ministry of Homeland Security – which did not even exist when Ms Harewood-Christopher made history as the first woman to take up the job in 2023 – announced, under advice from the Office of the Attorney General, that she had been “informed to proceed” on 66 days’ vacation leave.

Raising a clear suggestion of co-ordination with the Cabinet was a letter sent on the same day by the Police Service Commission (PSC) to Ms Harewood-Christopher which “noted that you were directed to proceed on vacation leave” while lifting, at long last, her suspension.

This is a neat and tidy end, but a decidedly inelegant one.

And it looks destined to be challenged in court, with the top cop’s lawyer Pamela Elder already signalling that the slow police probe over the last few months may have been an illegal fishing expedition; the PSC may have had no basis to defer revoking the suspension after that probe ended without charge; and the ministry’s intervention may have been ultra vires of the Constitution.

We will never know if Justice Christopher Sieuchand might have issued orders earlier this week about reinstatement if a representation had not been given that it was coming in open court.

However, the Cabinet has seemingly acted decisively to protect the public interest by ensuring no vacuum in police leadership. The PSC, for all its awkward delay, may well have dragged its feet for the same reason.

Another contradiction is thus evident: a top cop holds supreme authority, but the post-holder remains ultimately subservient to the public interest.