Senior Reporter
dareece.polo@guardian.co.tt
A “distracted” National Security Minister and pushback from the criminal element have forced Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to increase the Cabinet to 24, with the appointment of a junior minister in the National Security Ministry with responsibility for the police service.
At a post-Cabinet media briefing at White Hall yesterday, Dr Rowley said he advised the President to appoint newly minted silk appointee, Keith Scotland, SC, as Minister in the Ministry of National Security. He made the revelation as he lamented rising crime and problems plaguing the TTPS.
“We’ve run this Government since 2015 with a significantly reduced number of ministers, but because of the pressures of the pushback that’s coming to us from the criminal element, we’ve decided to put a bit more of the Cabinet’s resource on the police and some aspects of security.”
He said, “So much trouble is coming to us from the police; as Prime Minister, it’s my prerogative to make that decision, that the minister was being distracted by too many other things when we wanted more focusing on the police at this particular point in time.”
The revelation comes amidst criticism levelled against Minister Fitzgerald Hinds over a murder toll that has hit close to 350 to date.
Dr Rowley read a laundry list of responsibilities under Hinds’ purview to justify his decision, which includes protecting T&T’s airspace and territorial waters, the cadet force, citizenship, the defence force (regiment, coast guard, air guard), defence force reserves, drug enforcement interdiction, drug trafficking and money laundering, forensic services, DNA services, global security issues, immigration, intelligence, internal security, management of illegal immigrants and deportees, disaster management and much more.
He said Hinds needs help to manage his long schedule. He believes the police service requires special care and attention, special monitoring, special review, and special guidance since the TTPS is inundated with challenges.
Dr Rowley said he has been analysing the situation for several years and that replacing the minister entirely was not viable, as he recalled three National Security ministers being appointed over the nine years of the PNM Government. They were Brig Gen Edmund Dillon, Energy Minister Stuart Young and now Hinds.
But he said the police cannot operate without the Government’s oversight. Therefore, the Port-of-Spain South MP will give up his legal practice and his position as the chair of the Joint Select Committee on National Security to fill that gap. He will be responsible for five aspects in total, including the TTPS, offender management, illegal immigrants, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Asked why it took nine years to determine that the National Security Ministry required an additional resource, he said the National Security Council had sufficed at the time. The council, he reminded the public, has a body of at least six ministers, including himself.
“In recent times, I have spent more time on the issue of national security than on any other part of my portfolio. We always had a large number of ministers on the business of national security.”
With only a year left until the general election is due, Dr Rowley admitted he has not given Scotland a timeline to fix issues highlighted because “it would make no sense.” He, however, believes the difference Scotland could make is that he has specific areas of focus.
Contacted for comment, Scotland assured that he will hit the ground running but will say more once he receives his instrument of appointment at the President’s House today. Furthermore, Dr Rowley responded to calls for more hires into the TTPS. He said if the quality of the officers was not good, then it would have no positive impact on the force.
“Already, Trinidad and Tobago has more police per capita than the international average, so it’s not just a question of throwing more officers. You’ve got to find out whether the ones you have are giving you value for money as well. And then when you come to the prison, it’s a similar story.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said establishing a police inspectorate was not the silver lining the country hopes would fix issues with appointing this country’s next top cop. He compared this recommendation, initially made by the Manpower Audit Committee in 2017, to previous calls for the establishment of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
He noted that the PCA was set up over a decade ago and rogue cops remain a serious concern.
“It’s made no difference. I would say today, the behaviour of rogue police officers is worse today than before.
“The real problem is proper succession planning and training in our police service. What we come up against is people who come up through the system; there are many people up there who may not have been properly prepared because there isn’t a proper value system coming through.”