Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Emeritus Professor Ramesh Deosaran said yesterday it is now a relief that the country will get a permanent Police Commissioner.
He was responding to yesterday’s exclusive report by the T&T Guardian which said that the PSC has recommended acting Deputy Police Commissioner Deodath Dulalchan to be the country’s new top cop.
In an interview he said, “It is a great sigh of relief for the country to have this important appointment settled that is, if the Parliament now gives its approval.”
Deosaran, who chaired the Police Manpower Audit Committee, added that the population should never again be faced with such an “unnecessarily convoluted, complicated system.”
He added: “ It is unnecessarily too expensive, time-consuming and without the required efficiency, transparency and accountability. To avoid this, and as published, the Police Manpower Audit report recommended three options for selecting the commissioner and deputies with each option moving from low to high levels of transparency and accountability. A manageable system of directly electing a commissioner is the third option which puts direct democracy and the population’s faith in themselves to the test.”
The search to find a Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner cost taxpayers approximately $3.2 million (TT) to local consulting firm KPMG.
The exercise began with advertisements of the positions placed in local newspapers from September 4 to 29. That funding for the search came from the commission’s budgetary provision.
He said if the Government objects to one or more of the commissions’s recommended appointments, especially the commissioner’s,”its reasons will have to be quite convincing if only to avoid a repetition of the process. Assuming Dulalchan’s appointment is confirmed, this should serve the country’s crime-fighting objectives quite well.”
On Thursday, the PSC submitted the recommendations of two Deputy Police Commissioners and the Commissioner to the President.
Deosaran said as former chairman of the PSC and chairman of the Police Manpower Audit “I have enough information to recognise the good qualities of several police officers, Dulalchan being one.
He added, “Dulalchan has established himself to be fair to his juniors, very responsive to citizen’s concerns, with tight management skills and of suitable professional integrity. Once properly supported by his fellow officers – senior and junior – the country could look forward to sustainable improvements in the TTPS hence a close eye will be kept on him.
He said the competition has been quite tough in the Police Service as retired DCP Wayne Dick noted at this week’s JSC meeting. At Wednesday’s JSC, Dick said promotion in the Police Service was like a little devil.
Deosaran also said, “I have also personally known the good qualities of some of the competing applicants, notably Michael Seales, Glen Hackett, Harold Phillip, Anand Ramesar and Gary Griffith.
He said a new a commissioner in itself will not be sufficient. Deosaran said after the parliamentary process of approval, “the Government will do well to quickly furnish the new commissioner with the list of approved recommendations from the Police Manpower Audit Report.”
He said such recommendations with Government support would go a long way in equipping the new commissioner and his deputies to “hit the ground running as there is now no time to lose with the deadly crime challenges facing the country. And both Government and Opposition should jointly recognise this. “