With the experiences of the past executive of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association and the vision of the newly installed one, there is now an opportunity to heal the wounds of the T&T Police Service (TTPS).
Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Prof Emeritus Ramesh Deosaran said over the years, the organisation and structure of the Police Service have been harmed in several ways even though vast sums of money have been spent.
He said, “Hopefully, with the experiences of your previous executive and the enthusiasm and vision of your new executive, there is now the opportunity to heal the wounds, to press your case forward while gaining the respect of both the Government and the population you serve.”
Deosaran said while wounds existed, challenges of lawlessness and crime of all kinds from top to bottom in the society have increased. He cited the expanding nature and amount of illegal drugs, human trafficking, terrorism, border insecurity and state corruption which bring added pressures on the TTPS, while an anxious population complained.
Deosaran was the feature speaker at yesterday’s installation of the new executive of the association headed by Insp Michael Seales.
The event was held at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre and was attended by Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of National Security and former ACP Glenda Jennings-Smith.
Deosaran’s speech, titled A Wounded Police Service, focused on six matters about the structure and operations of the Police Service which he said merit deep concern by the Police Service, Government and the public.
Meanwhile, Deosaran said tinkering with the TTPS must stop. He said the insertion of a Police Management Board could seriously undermine and confuse the existing powers of the Police Commissioner.
He explained that the Constitution now gives the Commissioner “complete power to manage the Service—appoint, promote, transfer and discipline officers, except the deputy CoP (Section 123A).”
He said, “He is already manager. The Government also has to state clearly how its Police Inspectorate will affect the function of the PSC at the executive levels.”
He said police governance sat on two competing principles. One was that in a democratic society, there was a fundamental principle of having civilian control over the police.
“A democratic government, freely and fairly elected, must feel secure that the police will not take any subversive action to jeopardise its popular mandate.”
The second, he said, was that the police, under its Commissioner, must be and feel politically independent enough to exercise their investigative powers without fear or favour, treating everyone equally in the eyes of the law.
Therefore, he said, the question to be asked was, “To what extent does political control over the appointment of a commissioner affect his ability to investigate serious crimes allegedly committed by senior government politicians or even the prime minister himself or herself?”