There is absolute need for the House of Representatives to incisively and urgently decide on the right individual to be placed in the position of Commissioner of Police, one of the most critical executives in Trinidad and Tobago of the contemporary period. As required by law, the Police Service Commission (PolSC) has put forward its choice to the President after going through their investigative process.
As reported, acting Senior Superintendent Allister Guevarro is the commission’s choice. He is an officer said to have spent a large chunk of his career in the Special Branch; not surprising therefore that he is not too well known given the nature of that department’s operations.
With the President having forwarded the PolSC’s report to the House of Representatives, it’s now up to the House to accept or reject the commission’s choice.
In the past, the Lower House has taken one of both options to accept or reject. In one instance when the choice of Stephen Williams did not find favour with the then government, he was made to act as commissioner for six years.
It will be utter madness and gross irresponsibility of the House to allow for any delay in the current process due to a failure of the Parliament. Not to select a CoP with the mandate to bring relief from criminality, will be an indictment on the recently elected Government. More so, those in office cannot afford to have party politics taking centre stage at the expense of all citizens threatened by criminals.
However, we are not suggesting that the choice of the PolSC should be automatically accepted by the House, where the Prime Minister controls the majority. If Guevarro ultimately does not find favour for fundamental and legitimate reasons, the PolSC will logically have to go down the list to propose other officers in the expectation that a suitable choice will be made.
It’s of some significance that Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander, an experienced and former high-profile senior police officer, has expressed confidence in the PolSC’s ability to conduct the candidate search with fairness and transparency. He, however, was not about to commit to a choice, noting “we can only hope fairness and transparency was done.”
Given Minister Alexander’s political significance to the Government—he having come from outside the United National Congress and won one of the most critical of “marginal seats,” and given his experience as a senior officer in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service—his expression of confidence in the PolSC must surely mean that if not the number one choice, there must be someone amongst the listed officers who will meet the need for an appropriate CoP.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has given a measure of encouragement that a decision will be made and this is although she believes change to the process of selection may be required. That, she says, is for the future, the need she understands now is for decisive action in the circumstances of the present.
