PM Kamla prefers national as CoP but Canadian likely to get the job

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar prefers to have a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago as the country's Commissioner of Police (CoP). However, she says she must follow the law that is in place for making such an appointment.

On Sunday National Security Minister Brig. John Sandy stated that he supports a local CoP, noting that such a move would help boost morale in the police service and give junior officers the security that they can aspire to the highest office.

Persad-Bissessar noted that in 2008 her party voted for the top ranked candidate for Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams, who was rejected by the Manning administration.

"The then government rejected him in the Parliament, the then government including the present members, some of them of the Opposition, rejected the local. We would prefer, all of us, we would prefer that the top policeman in the country, the Commissioner of Police be a local, yes we share that view,” she told the Newsday newspaper in response to Sandy's position.

Persad-Bissessar reiterated that her Government would amend the laws governing the appointment of a CoP to make the position open to citizens only.

“We will move to review that legislation to give effect to the wishes of the population, in the meantime we will comply with the law until that law is changed,” she told the paper.

"It is not just the issue of national or foreigner, there are also issues in terms of an entire process and the manner in which such appointments are to be placed,” she explained.

No national of Trinidad and Tobago is in the primary merit list of five submitted to President Richards by the Police Service Commission (PSC). The top candidate - Canadian Neal Parker - was rejected by Parliament last Friday because of an apparent conflict of interest.

Parker was a member of an earlier recruiting team and the government said he might have had access to privileged information and therefore could have been in a conflict situation. However the recruiting agency, Penn State University, denied that.

The man most likely to get the nod is another Canadian - Dwayne Gibbs. Parliament is likely to approve Gibbs as the CoP on Friday.

“That will be the matter before the Parliament on Friday, we will continue to hold discussions on the matter but we are of the view that we will follow the legal counsel and comply with the law,” Persad Bissessar told Newsday Monday.

Gibbs, 54, is a retired Chief Superintendent of Police at the Edmonton Police Service in Alberta, Canada and was in charge of the Human Resource Division when he left the service.

He served in law enforcement for 30 years and holds four university degrees, including a doctorate in management.

Gibbs was a director in charge of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta between 1999 and 2001. The agency is responsible for arranging joint force operations to deal with crime, including gang violence.

Speaking with the Trinidad Express Gibbs said he looks forward to using his expertise and professionalism.

"Certainly I would be very excited to be part of the Trinidad and Tobago National Police Service, and to work with the different police members along with the political powers, to look at any improvement within in the Service, and any improvement throughout the country as far as the crime rate is concerned," he told the paper.

"I looked at it as a challenge, a new opportunity to again work with people that require more help, in terms of dealing with the issues that affect their country, and I look forward to the challenge, personally, and the opportunity for Trinidad to leverage any of my skills and knowledge in any way I can help," he added.

"Everybody is working towards the same end. Everybody wants to see the crime rate come down and everybody wants to see the solving rate improved. So, it’s just being a matter of everybody working together and trying to affect those ends," Gibbs said.

He acknowledged that a police commissioner must have the competency and the character and be able to fit into the organisation, adding that he holds all of those attributes.

"I have been very successful throughout my career and I intend to bring those qualities to Trinidad and Tobago and assist in whatever way I can," he said.

The parliamentary notice for friday's sitting of the House of Representatives lists under Government motions:

"Approval of the Notification of the Nomination of the Commissioner of Police: Debate is expected on a Motion to approve the notification of the President of the nomination by the Police Service Commission of a candidate to the office of Commissioner of Police."