BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN just a few days, the High Command of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force will have completed the first half of its two-year probation, and the Team Unity Government has publicly announced its confidence in the ability of that law enforcement authority to deliver on expectations.
This was disclosed yesterday (Feb. 1) by Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris during the first of his Monthly Conference for the year.
The Prime Minister was at the time commenting on matters of law and order, while noting that matters of public safety and security have been on the minds of the nation for over two decades.
He noted that upon taking office in February 2015, there were already eight homicides and that his Team Unity Government had made “the sacred pledge that we will do all that we can to restore the faith of the people in the agencies of law and order, and that we will strive to achieve remarkable improvements in the public safety and security profile of the country”.
Dr. Harris however exhorted that time is of essence in order to achieve those set goals.
“Every reasonable person appreciates that this will take time, as there is no silver bullet to overcome a culture of violence and homicides perpetrated over a 20-year cycle. There is no silver bullet! You’ll take time to break the back of that culture, but we are not daunted by the challenge.”
He also stated that it would require the active participation of everyone to enhance citizens’ security in the country, and that his Government “has been leading the way, as every government should, because we accept that a fundamental responsibility of governments everywhere is to maintain law and order”.
The Prime Minister reminded that his Government had implemented a four-year Police Strategic Plan (2016-2019) and also a Six-Point Plan to combat the crime situation.
“We reorganised the police into directorates with greater focus and accountability and results. We have invested in police training, set up processes and systems which lead to reward, promotion and punishment in the security services,” he said, adding that his Government had hired the internationally renowned Bramshill Police Advisors out of England to assist in the training of security personnel.
Dr. Harris, who is also the Minister with Responsibility for National Security, declared that within a two-year interval, the Team Unity Administration expects see some results. “In other words,” he explained, “we have to invest first to begin to get the results, and we have been investing. Our record of investment in National Security is better than it ever was of any time in recent history of St. Kitts and Nevis. And so we look at the two-year interval.”
He continued: “That is why when we introduced the new High Command, we say that we will give them two years for consideration before they could be formally confirmed. The two years was a reasonable strategy in keeping the good management practices the world over that you reward people based on performance. And we had the expectation that they would be able to perform within a two-year period, having granted them the resources that they required.”
Dr. Harris proclaimed that the period of time given to the High Command to produce results that could confirm the ranks of its members is not only keeping with the global system, but also with the local Police Act.
“It was also an important provision of the Police Act that persons at that high level should at least be given a two-year acting appointment. So the law and the practice were in conformity.”
When asked by a media operative if he would extend the probationary period given to the High Command for some unforeseen circumstance, the Prime Minister reiterated that the members were given two years.
“You knew since last year that there were two years in the first instance. So the two years not ended, so we can’t deal with that until the initial stint has been determined. What we do know, we have expectations. The High Command knows what those expectations are! Most importantly, the country has expectations and those expectations would have first be considered as we move forward. But the time is not now to make a determination whether there will be an extension or otherwise.
“Let’s let the term finish, let’s give the High Command an opportunity to come into their own and to deliver in keeping with the expectations of the people of the country. What I do say is that we have every confidence in their ability to deliver. We have every confidence in the instruments that they have prepared, the Strategic Plan, the Six-Point Plan, but these are useful documents that can get us where we need to go.”
On the evening of Tuesday, February 9, 2016, Prime Minister Harris had informed the nation of the five Senior Officers who made up the new Police High Command.
He announced the appointment of Ian Queeley as Commissioner of Police and Hilroy Brandy as his Deputy. He also announced that Terrance James was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) with Responsibility for the Operations Directorate, Andre Mitchell was appointed ACP with Responsibility for the Crime Directorate, and Merclyn Hughes was appointed ACP with Responsibility for the Administration, Resources, Technology and Intelligence Directorate.
