President Anthony Carmona’s inability to fill top posts in the Police Service Commission (PSC), Police Complaints Authority (PCA) and the Integrity Commission (IC) is having a grave impact on the fight against crime and corruption. So said secretary of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Sgt Michael Seales, as he called on Carmona to move post-haste to fill the vacancies.
Seales said: “The failure to select a chairman of the Police Service Commission has serious administrative consequences. The Commissioner of Police cannot go on vacation leave. The commission is unable to monitor and assess his performance in the absence of a chairman of the PSC. “It has also stymied appeals to the commission based on promotion and discipline.”
Saying some police officers are being denied due process in cases of dismissal because they had no access to the Police Service Appeal Tribunal, Seales pointed out that the recruitment of senior officers was also being hampered. He added: “At this moment, they cannot recruit a commissioner or deputy commissioner of police, so essentially the absence of the commission chairman has crippled the Police Service in terms of its administrative operability. “This has a ripple effect on the crime fight and issues of accountability and transparency were also affected because there was no director of the Police Complaints Authority. “The investigatory capacity of the PCA is affected gravely because some powers are inherent to the director and are not delegated to any subordinate person. As such, many complaints lodged by members of the public hang in limbo.” Up to mid-2014, there were 26 police killings, of which 19 were being monitored by the PCA. Of those 19 killings, eight were in the North Eastern Division and six in Central Division.
Why are the posts vacant?
In an interview, Senior Counsel Martin Daly said too many people were uninterested in taking up these presidential appointments because of the negative backlash they faced from politicians and the wider public. Daly, a former Independent Senator, said the lack of appointments was having a serious negative impact on how the country was governed. People might be more inclined to take up posts as commissioners, he felt, if they were assured confidentiality in their affairs. “I query whether the requirement for disclosure to the Integrity Commission is not more than a hindrance than a help,” Daly said, when asked why people were reluctant to accept posts.
He explained: “I don’t think honest people have a problem, or need the stimulation of filing declarations with the Integrity Commission to remain honest. “People have genuine concerns about the confidentiality of information they supply. “This is not intended as a criticism of the Integrity Commission. My suggestion is in relation to these presidential appointments. There may be a case for exempting them from having to comply with the Integrity in Public Life Act.”
He said another hindrance was the very personal nature of the attacks that were made on office-holders. He added: “No one expects to be above criticism but it has become standard practice to make criticisms of these people not just by politicians alone. “For example, there is great controversy on the ads that are printed because nobody is owning up to them,” he added, in a reference to a series of media advertisements placed by a group known only as “Citizens 4D Highway”. He said: “I don’t know if all of them will put their business in a filing cabinet in someones’s office. The whole climate has to change.”
Former head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas also agreed negative publicity was a hindrance to those wanting to serve. He did not think, however, that the President should place advertisements or hire a professional agency to recruit candidates for the posts. Dumas added: “While I accept that he has a problem to fill these posts, I do not agree that he has to do so openly. I believe he must consult but he has to do so quietly. “There are a lot of vacancies on the commissions and if these vacancies are not filled with people whose reputations can stand up to scrutiny, then there is a problem.”
Saying he was not trying to blame the President, Dumas explained: “People are backing away from these commissions because they have come under the political and public gun. “The commissions have come under negative scrutiny over time. A lot of people are shying away because they feel that these commissions are tainted. “It is a fair assessment and I can understand why they would shy away.” He disagreed with Daly over the declaration of assets, saying that anyone who wants to serve on a commission must be prepared to do so. Spokesman for the Office of the President Theron Boodan was in a meeting when the T&T Guardian called him, and did not answer questions on how the President was tackling the issue. He told the T&T Guardian to call him back later, but did not answer his cellphone.
