However three members of the commission - attorney Martin George, Kenneth Parker and Jacqueline Cheeseman - immediately distanced themselves from the statement by Nizam Mohammed saying they did not agree with him.
Mohammed told a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament examining the operations his commission that half of the population of Trinidad and Tobago is of Indian origin but that is not reflected in the executive of the Police Service.
He said that issue was raised in a letter he received from Sgt. Anand Ramesar, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association.
Mohammed said Ramesar wrote to say that he felt threatened and unsafe and asked the PSC to address the issue. The chairman said he has sent the letter to Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs.
Mohammed noted that all members of the police Promotional and Advisory Board are of African descent. The board comprises Deputy Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and Acting ACP Terry Young, including three civilians.
Mohammed said, "Out of 10 Assistant Commissioners of Police, you don't have a single one of Indian origin. Out of three Deputy Commissioners, none of Indian origin. Well we have one Commissioner of Police. Senior Superintendent, you have 15 all of African origin, none of Indian origin.
"Happily when you look at the figures, you see at the Superintendent level, you have 21 of African origin and 10 of East Indian origin."
Mohammed said the commission has been insisting on promotions based on merit rather than seniority and said following exams next week for superintendents "the better ones may move to Senior Superintendents and you may have a better mixture".
"You cannot approach a matter like this in an inflammatory, passionate, emotional kind of way...50 per cent of this country are people of East Indian origin...they have to feel protected by the Police Service and when they see the hierarchy of the Police Service is as imbalanced as is reflected in these figures, and the chairman of the commission intends to tackle these things, you understand why the guns are being aimed at me.
"But I have a job to do and this is what I intend to do. I intend to address this with the help of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. We need the protection," Mohammed said.
"It's either we are here to carry out our oath of service in the manner in which we took our oath. We have to take our oath seriously and handle these matters in a very dispassionate kind of way," he added.
Health Minister Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, a member of the JSC, expressed concern about Mohammed's statements and said she felt offended. "I just never like that. Those kinds of statements being made or those types of classifications. Especially someone like myself who is from all," she noted.
"When you all determine that, how do you all determine me? Because if you start to classify people as East Indian and African, we are running into a problem and this is exactly as a Government what we are trying to get away from. We are trying to go for everybody," she said.
Baptiste-Cornelis noted the multi-ethnic composition of the country and cautioned Mohammed about using racial classifications. "We should discourage that being used in any forms of evaluations. It is really wrong and its offensive to people," she said.
Mohammed told the committee the intention of the PSC is to ensure fairness. "All we are trying to do is create a fair and just society," he said.
But George disagreed with his chairman and endorsed what the minister said. "I can state categorically that myself, Ms Cheeseman and Mr Parker; I know for sure, the comments of the chairman do not represent our views in terms of what he just said and we disagree."
"This is news to me," Mohammed stated.
The chairman seemed to be alone. Other members of the committee, including PNM MP Joanne Thomas, PNM Senator Shamfa Cudjoe and Government Senator David Abdulah also disagreed with him as did the chairman of the JSC, Senator Subhas Ramkhlewan.
Abdulah warned Mohammed to be careful in his statements, noting that mischief makers could easily put a negative interpretation to them.
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