President of the Police Service and Social Welfare Association Sgt Anand Ramesar is accusing the Police Service Commission of dragging its feet on the much anticipated performance appraisal to be conducted on Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs. Saying the appraisal was long overdue, Ramesar called on the commission's chairman, Ramesh Deosaran, to produce "an interim report." He added: "The appraisal is long overdue and it should have been completed since last year. "We understand there are other factors which keep coming up that would have to be also taken into consideration but at least by now there should have been an interim report on how the commissioner has performed thus far." He said he has had no communication with Deosaran regarding the matter but hoped the commission would seek to resolve what pressing issues there may be.
On January 12, members of the commission met in a hastily-called meeting discuss and finalise the appraisals of Gibbs and Deputy Police Commissioners, Jack Ewatski and Stephen Williams. The meeting Deosaran had stated was to strive to maintain the credibility of this commission and earn public confidence in executing its constitutional mandate. Two days later, the commission met with Gibbs and his DCPs following which Gibbs was requested to submit before January 30, several outstanding reports, documents and other information, which the PSC had request in order to move forward with the appraisal exercise. Gibbs also found himself at the centre of another contentious issue by contracting a light aircraft to conduct anti-crime surveillance exercises. Last week National Security Minister John Sandy said Gibbs was "ill advised" when he made the decision not to inform the National Security Ministry about the asset.
In a telephone interview on Sunday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bbissessar said she has received a report on the matter but could not make any pronouncements until she received legal advice after the report was read by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan. The move was also met with much criticism from Ramesar who described the $902,772 contract as a "waste." Ramesar also questioned why the Police Service was not using the intelligence-gathering resources of the Special Anti-crime Unit (SAUTT) which possessed far greater capabilities than the aircraft. Questioned as to his rating of Gibbs, Ramesar said: "It is still at zero."
He said for the top cop to improve his rating there must firstly be greater consultation with all stakeholders
before key decisions were taken and implemented. "Then there is the issue of transparency with is sadly lacking in the Police Service," Ramesar added. Canadians Gibbs and Ewatski were appointed in September 2010 without the support of the Opposition, which objected to foreigners holding top posts in the Police Service.