Chin Lee: No ‘parallel police service’

NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Howard Chin Lee yesterday said Brigadier-General Peter Joseph’s “special crime-fighting unit” is not a “parallel police service.” The unit was one of several immediate crime-fighting initiatives announced by Prime Minister Patrick Manning in his 2003/2004 Budget presentation in Parliament on Monday. Manning said members of this unit would be drawn from all branches of the armed forces and the civilian population with the only requirement for entry being the ability to pass a polygraph test at regular intervals.

Police Service Welfare Association president Insp Christopher Holder, said the unit was “a parallel police service,” would undermine the Police Service’s ability to deal with crime and further erode motivation within the Service. However, Chin Lee told Newsday that the unit has the full support of the Service’s top brass and there was no truth to Holder’s claims. The Minister disclosed that he is currently engaged in a series of critical meetings which will guide the crime-fighting role and responsibilities of Joseph’s unit. “All available resources will be given to assist this unit,” Chin Lee said. Reiterating that the idea behind the special crime unit’s formation “was to build on the intelligence side of the kidnapping scourge,” Chin Lee said this was by no means a condemnation of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad’s performance. The Minister also said the unit would also deal with intelligence-gathering regarding murder and drug-trafficking.

Chin Lee said work “is continuing apace” to improve the nation’s border security. He shared the Prime Minister’s feelings about the effectiveness which the two fast patrol vessels (equipped with interceptor boats and helicopters with attack capabilities) would bring in terms of dealing with the illegal drug and arms trade. Chin Lee said the boats would be built within two years and training Coast Guard personnel to operate these vessels would not be a problem. He agreed with Manning about the assistance which the new Special Security Commission (which comprises four of his predecessors — Overand Padmore, John Donaldson, Herbert Atwell and Joe Theodore —would provide in dealing with crime and expressed overall satisfaction with the Budget’s national security provisions.