JANELLE BERNARD
Former Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, says he has not made a decision as to whether he will re-apply for the position, and promises to remain a fiercely independent individual.
He said while there are calls for him to serve the country in that capacity once again, he has not ruled it out, nor is he putting his hat in the ring… just yet.
“It remains to be seen,” he said. “The jury is still out as pertains to that… What I do not want to do is to keep re-applying and if that is the case, to have the Attorney General continue to shift the goal post and make legal notices to continue to override the previous legal notices if I top the merit list, because that is what happened.”
“The reason that I am here is because I am honestly trying to serve my country—whether it has been in the military, or as a national security advisor, or as a Minister of National Security, or as a Commissioner of Police,” Griffith stated.
He added: “I am being bombarded on a regular basis by many persons coming to me—because of what they have seen over the past few months—and asking me to re-apply. I still have to decide what I would like to do. I honestly do not know.”
According to Gary Griffith, the newly constituted Police Service Commission (PSC) had very little choice in the selection process since they did not have the option to continue with the previous merit list of candidates for the Police Commissioner post.
The former top cop says this country's Constitution is fundamentally flawed and unless this is addressed, the selection process for a Police Commissioner can be manipulated.
“Our Constitution is so flawed that a government can hand-pick a President, and then tell that President to not send a Merit List to Parliament, and try to direct the PSC to not send back a Merit List… And after all that, if the Merit List is still there and a new PSC has been created, out of fear of the new PSC doing the right thing and forwarding it [the Merit List], you do up a Legal Notice to totally scrap a Merit List,” Griffith observed.
“Someone needs to ask the Government what grounds were used to guide their decision to scrap the Merit List, because that is what they did by putting a Legal Notice to cancel the previous Legal Notice that authorised that Merit List,” he argued, saying that a serious discussion on Constitution reform must be had in this country.
At present, Deputy Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob, is acting in the post of Commissioner of Police.
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Gary Griffith was a guest on CNC3’s The Morning Brew show, on Monday 17 January 2022.
The full interview can be viewed on CNC3’s YouTube Channel, here… https://youtu.be/9po9X8oA-ZI