It is high time that we, as a nation, put a stop to this tomfoolery in the selection process for a police commissioner, because while we are dithering and tittering and fiddling like the proverbial Nero, Rome is, indeed, burning, as the crimes and murders continue unabated. The entire way that we approach this process is flawed, and if the effect of the present procedure was to insulate the Office of the Commissioner of Police from political influence or sway, our history has shown this to be far from the case. Political influence has clearly played a role in the past, as with the exercise of the power of veto. There can be an effective sidelining of independent choices in succession, until the favoured one is selected, or you just keep granting extensions to a favoured incumbent, and thereby keep him in the job.
src="http://guardian.co.tt/files/Martin George logo.png" alt="logo" class="right"/>We also have to move away from this idea of appointing police commissioners who are long in the tooth and in the evening of their years, as we have seen this to result in the past in some toothless bulldogs and in other cases just some tired old dogs who are just marking time and waiting it out until retirement for their golden handshake. We need an energetic, vibrant person who can command the respect of the forces, while having that dynamism, foresight and intellect to lead in a professional, pro-active manner, and we bloody well don't need Penn State University to be gouging us at $4 million a pop to tell us whom we should or should not have as a Police Commissioner.
It is not only highly insulting to our collective intelligence as a people, but it is also ridiculous for anyone to suggest that we need Penn State University–or any other foreign consultant–to tell us who our commissioner should be. As I have said before in this column, if we don't need Penn State to select our Chief Justice and our Attorney General, then we certainly don't need them to help us select a Police Commissioner. If it is one thing that we should definitely stop, it is this obscene, wasteful haemorrhaging of monies to Penn State to tell us something which we could more than figure out for ourselves. I also hope that the Police Service Commission was misquoted when it was reported that they could not find a local firm with the experience to be able to conduct this screening process, hence the choice of Penn State.
What poppycock! We choose for ourselves candidates for the much more important posts of our Prime Minister and our President, without the help of Penn State, so why all this tomfoolery and nonsense about choosing a top cop? The criminals and bandits must be loving every minute of this, as they recognise that we have had for almost two years now, a "ten days" Police Commissioner, who, to his credit, has tried to make some changes during his time, but who must obviously feel hamstrung and not comforted by the uncertainty of his tenure.
We need to think outside the box a bit, and be a bit more creative in dealing with this whole issue, as we are already the laughing stock of the Caribbean on this point. We can elect 41 members of Parliament; select 31 Senators. We can choose an entire government and a full Cabinet of ministers, all within the space of six to eight weeks, and can't choose a Police Commissioner in two years.
Come on, T&T, let's be serious now! On the note of being serious also, it is time that we put a stop to the subtle bullying or threatening tactics of the Police Social and Welfare Association by their repeated assertions that they do not want a foreigner in the post as top cop. Now, I have always advocated the preference for local talent, and will continue to do so, and in this sense I would say that we must have talented locals, either living here or abroad, who can adequately and competently fill the post of Police Commissioner. However, at the end of the day, the Police Association cannot just base their objections on the blanket position that they will not accept any foreigner. Trinidad and Tobago policemen leave our shores every day, seeking employment in other countries and end up in substantial positions and rise quickly through the ranks.
Many Caribbean islands and police departments throughout the USA and Canada can attest to this fact, as our police officers are welcomed overseas with open arms, so we need to stop this extreme myopia and xenophobia and recognise that if it is that the Police Service Commission has found that the best candidate for the job of top cop just so happens to be a foreigner, then we have to grow up and be mature and accept that. Otherwise, we might as well not have the Police Service Commission perform this function. The idea of debating the choice through Parliament is also a long, tortuous and anachronistic process, and we must certainly change this if we ever get around to any serious constitutional reform and give the post of Police Commissioner constitutional protections and insulations from political influence. This also means that the power of veto must go. Then, and only then, would we be able to put a stop to this top cop nonsense.