Under the new process for the appointment of a commissioner of police and deputy commissioner the Police Service Commission will have to contract a local firm under the Central Tenders Board Act to conduct the recruitment process, which includes inviting applications for the posts.
This is according to the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner (Selection Process) Order 2015, which was tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday by National Security Minister Edmund Dillon.
It was one of two orders recently approved by Cabinet for the selection of the top police officers.
This has come about after the existing system, which requires an international firm to do the same work, has been described as ineffective for the appointment of the officers.
Stephen Williams has been acting as Commissioner of Police since 2012, when the last confirmed police commissioner Dwayne Gibbs was removed.
The order says the firm shall submit a shortlist of suitable candidates for consideration.
Under the law the Parliament will seek to approve or reject the nominees.
The Appointment of a Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner (Qualification and Selection Criteria) Order 2015 was also laid by Dillon. That order says the nominees must be nationals of T&T and have a degree from a recognised university in the field of law, criminal justice, criminology, police service management or other relevant degree.
It says the candidate for CoP must have at least 15 years service of increasing responsibility in law enforcement and the candidates for deputy commissioner must have ten years service in the same area.
The Parliament will subsequently have to approve the nominees and the appointments made by the President.