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TERRENCE HONORÉ

IT MUST be the crime of the century that we continue to keep appointing an acting commissioner to head the police service.
While I am elated and grateful to God that the position was finally approved, I realise that it must mean little to the criminal element, who is comfortable in the chaos caused by the ongoing saga of the poor handling of crime from a governance level.
It’s not the fault of the police in the ranks that they can’t seem to produce a leader appointed and approved by the authorities to keep law and order in the land. The selection of a leader is not their responsibility, it’s the authorities that seem to keep getting it wrong.
We must remember that crime is the number one problem that we have to contend with in this little republic, but we just can’t seem to get it right. That is a crime in itself. There must be a law to correct that.
But who is keeping score of the long list of fails and the litany of woes of the police since they were promoted from the days of wearing short pants? Who is charged with the responsibility to address these ills?
The crime problem is essentially one of leadership; it seems that many people have tried to make it political. The lack of an appointment is a disappointment to law-abiding people. Now the opposition chooses to abstain again.
What is the matter with our leaders that they can’t get this simple task right? From the ongoing soap opera of the Police Service Commission to the interference by those with axes to grind, while God-fearing people look on in dismay and old grannies continue to pray.
I am told the last colonially appointed white commissioner was James Porter Reid (1966-1970). He was followed by the first black CoP, Francis Eustace Bernard (1970-1973). Then there was the local white appointee, Claud Anthony May (1973-1973). They were all duly appointed to their positions by the powers that be. But it didn’t matter the colour of the commissioner, it’s how we handle the white-collar, pink-collar, green-collar or red-collar set of “rainbow” crime we have in our country.
As it appears, the curtain closed on the colonial era and the acting continues to this day. Someone in their wisdom thought it best to have the top cop in an acting capacity, even until the end of their time in the service when they walk away with a lesser pension.
It is obvious that the well-intentioned career officers who have performed their duties to protect and serve have found themselves coming short of the high standards set by the academically inclined commission, when it came to promotion to the CoP position.
But here we go with an acting commissioner again. We are watching too many movies. Arguably, few governments, if any, in any country have had so many “actors” to lead their police force. It must be another record of which we can’t be proud. Somebody has to start getting this right, so that law-abiding people can sleep well at night.
It’s an indictment to this day that the police service is in such a state. There seems to be little respect for the men and women who conscientiously work to serve and protect. We are operating in this institution like a back-street parlour unable to recruit and retain a commissioner, time after time.
But the real problem is not with the police but with those who hold the reins, appearing to treat us all like animals of burden to carry the load of their incompetence. They are presenting convoluted clauses that cause us so much grief and cause crooked cops and ghetto gangsters to rejoice.
We even tried the good ole Scotland Yard and our “migrated” family friends in Canada sent us a mountie but things got sadder than it has been since the days when commissioner Randolph Borroughs reigned, raided and put criminals to flight.
What is it that keeps us from functioning in good governance with respect to the appointment of the top police position to handle the biggest problem that we have faced as a young nation? This is yet another acting position to lead the fight against the avalanche of crime. What a disgrace!
Crime is like a runaway horse and the jockey is given permission to put one foot in the stirrup. The Parliament and the Opposition and the commission seem to be in collusion to keep us in confusion. The situation makes us all fools to the wise and a reason for the badjohns among us to party.
So there must be a natural progression from a deputy commissioner to the top position. Let’s remove the “acting” title that has become the “default position” for naming of a CoP. It reflects a lack of due diligence by the authorities towards the hard working police officers and the people of TT.
We must stop the acting and having people directing the task of crime fighting from the sidelines and hindering the police in doing their duty. What is evident is that the top cop remains without the authority to act to the full extent of the law.
But things got worse the other day when the newly minted acting commissioner McDonald Jacob was quoted as saying, in a newspaper report, “that since mid October there was no sitting CoP for the first time in the history of the service.” That is backwardness!
I believe the authorities should continue acting in the best interest of the country, but the CoP must stop acting and be confirmed in the top position as an act of good faith and commitment to fighting crime. Let’s appoint the man to the position. No more acting, please.
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