Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, whose post was recently described by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley as a “ten days” given the number of times the top cop has been mandated to act, says he wants the job and if given the opportunity will apply for it.
He made the comment during an interview on i95FM yesterday, while at the same time noting that his focus was not on a substantive appointment but rather on contributing to the country and making a difference.
Both Rowley and National Security Minister Edmund Dillon have promised to revisit the legislation on the appointment of a police commissioner with a view to appointing someone permanently to the position.
Commenting on this prospect, Williams, who was given his sixth acting appointment in July this year and has been functioning in the position since 2012, said, “To put it in simple language, if the position is publicised, I will apply and I will compete like anybody else for the job.”
He admitted, however, that acting in the position for such a long period had taken a toll on him.
“I am human and it will impact on you, but in order to manage yourself I focus on the issue, not on the substantive appointment as commissioner of police. I am assigned the responsibility of leading the police service and that is what I am focused on.”
On whether the role of commissioner entailed a lot of personal responsibility, Williams described the T&T Police Service as a “mega organisation” which comprised 10,000-plus employees.
“With that you have a support structure and they have responsibilities to fulfil. So in that context you have to understand what can I do when you have an assistant commissioner or a deputy commissioner...I would have to get an update from them to account for a particular matter when it is raised,” Williams said.
He said in the Dana Seetahal murder probe, for instance, his role was to ensure his officers had the necessary tools so as to bring the case to prosecution.
“Even the deputy commissioners...they don’t investigate those matters. They take responsibility for overseeing them,” Williams added.
Regarding the recent transfer of Central Division Senior Superintendent Johnny Abraham to the Port-of-Spain Division, Williams said transfers were the norm in the organisation and took place every month.
Also transferred were Senior Superintendent Patsy Joseph and Superintendent Johnny Phaloo of the South Western Division. They have been reassigned to the Western and North Eastern Divisions, respectively. (See page A5).
He lauded the manifesto of the People’s National Movement administration, saying he was very heartened by its crime , especially the border protection plan.
Regarding whether they would consider a gun amnesty to curb the spiralling murder rate, he said, “A gun amnesty is not under the control of the commissioner but the evidence across the globe is that it has not worked.”
He said 477 illegal firearms and more than 6,000 rounds of illegal ammunition were taken off the streets so far this year.
Detection rate
Rowley, in an interview this week, also criticised the police’s poor detection rate for murders, saying the ten per cent figure was unacceptable.
But yesterday, Williams said the figures were higher.
“The numbers are slightly different but it’s not much different. General detection is much higher, it is around 22 per cent,” he said.
“We have targeted to improving towards 30 per cent and that is what we are working towards. We have changed our policing approach and we have even gotten a drop in serious crimes.”
He added that in general after the 2011 state of emergency crimes had increased.