A company is yet to be selected to shortlist the applicants for the post of Police Commissioner. The firm has to advertise and screen applicants for the offices of police commissioner and deputy commissioners. However, a source at the Police Service Commission said yesterday because of the requirements of Legal Notice 102, the commission has to wait until it gets a shortlist from the firm which is now being sought by the National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd (Nipdec), as contracted by the director of Personnel Administration. The source said no specific date has been given for the shortlist to be finalised as no firm has yet been selected.
Once chosen, the firm will then select candidates for recommendation to the commission. The commission then selects its choice and sends the name of the candidate to Parliament for approval. Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams was appointed on August 7, 2012 for six months. On January 17, the commission extended his appointment to July 31. On August 1, Williams was again given a six-month extension which ends on January 31, 2014. Williams replaced former commissioner, Canadian Dwayne Gibbs, who stepped down in July last year.
At a press conference last year, PSC chairman Prof Ramesh Deosaran described the process as a “tangled web” in urgent need of review. He also called on the Government to immediately review Legal Notice 102, which identifies the selection process for a CoP and his deputies. He also had referred to part (h) of the notice which said the commission was mandated to do its own assessment of the candidates although a similar exercise would already have been done by a selected firm. Deosaran is out of the country and is expected to return next week.