While he was unwilling to share his thoughts on the performance of embattled Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said Government will continue to support her as long as she leads the T&T Police Service (TTPS).
However, Dr Rowley neither confirmed nor denied whether Harewood-Christopher’s contract will be renewed when it expires in May.
Last week, Harewood-Christopher came under fire after she admitted before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on national security that the police failed to achieve all of its crime-fighting objectives for 2023. Her responses also prompted calls from the Opposition for her removal.
However, during a media briefing at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, Rowley dismissed suggestions the CoP would be removed.
Asked if he was pleased with Harewood-Christopher’s performance, Rowley said he would not make such a comment publicly, adding it would be inappropriate for him to critique or “bad mouth” any public official.
“When these officers are in position, until such time where you come to the point where certain action has to be taken, you ought to support them to try to get the job done that they have been put there to do. Those things, if they have to emerge, they have to emerge in a particular way and not by public commentary,” Rowley said.
“The headline cannot be that the Prime Minister is upset with the Commissioner of Police because she misspoke at a press conference or something like that.”
Rowley said he has not had any interaction with Harewood-Christopher since he returned to T&T from a visit to Washington, DC, but acknowledged she was in a “difficult situation”.
“She has a very difficult job and even if things don’t go as well as we would like on a particular day, that does not mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater or behave as though her efforts are to be ignored.”
Despite this, Rowley said he would not condone poor performance.
“I’m not here saying that I’m supporting underperformance or that I’m supporting incompetence or any such thing.”
Last May, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds announced that Harewood-Christopher’s contract was extended for one year.
By law, the mandatory retirement age for a First Division Officer is 60 years. Harewood-Christopher will be 61 on May 15.
Asked if her contract would be extended again, Rowley said that was the Police Service Commission’s (PolSC) responsibility.
“The Government expects that the Police Service Commission will hold some kind of conversation and the PolSC will act at the appropriate time,” he said.
“If anything is to be done, the Police Service Commission, we put all authority there and it is the Police Service Commission will trigger the process, invite applications, assess them and when a vacancy arises, put that to the Parliament. So that process is what is there in front of us. It has been an uphill battle.”
Referring to statistics obtained from the Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) branch of the TTPS, Rowley said Harewood-Christopher was the first CoP in years to achieve a reduction in murders.
Noting a 26 per cent drop in the murder toll in 2020 under the tenure of former commissioner Gary Griffith, Rowley attributed this decline to the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that year.
“Those are the facts, those are the figures and they don’t say anything about who should stay or whose contract should be renewed or so on. Those are decisions that should be taken in a more sober and expanded analysis.”
He said the names of three candidates for the role of Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) will be brought to Parliament immediately after Carnival.
Responding to a question referencing a motion of no confidence brought by the Opposition against National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds in 2023, Rowley contended that the Opposition’s issue was over the personality of the office holder rather than the work done.
He admitted that while a “fresh face” may offer some new perspectives and insight to addressing challenges, inexperience could also affect the performance.
“It could also take away from the experience that is being put to bear. It might also interfere with the learning curve and I guarantee you if I gave you that portfolio tomorrow, the attack on you would be no different than the one on Mr Hinds, because the whole idea is to attack the person and disregard the work that is being done.”
Contacted for comment following the PM’s statement, TTPS Social and Welfare Association (TTPSSWA) secretary Insp Nathalie John said, “The Commissioner may not have had the best experience before the JSC but subsequent to that, you would have seen in the paper where she is doing better than people believe she is. We still support our commissioner.”
TTPS murder reduction targets and actual figures attained
2018: A five per cent reduction in murders was set. A 4.4 per cent increase in murders was recorded.
2019: A ten per cent reduction was set. A 4.5 per cent increase was recorded
2020: A ten per cent reduction was set. A 26 per cent decrease was recorded. This was attributed to a restriction of movement caused by a lockdown and state of emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic that year.
2021: A five per cent reduction was set. A 12.5 per cent increase recorded.
2022: Five per cent reduction set. A 34 per cent increase recorded.
2023: A 20 per cent reduction set. A 4.8 per cent decrease recorded.
As of yesterday morning there were 50 murders for 2024 compared to 70 for the same period last year.