No to PM’s veto over top police posts

However, none of the five stakeholders who met the Opposition on the Police Service Reform Bills on Thursday supported such a proposal.

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday spoke to the media after the Opposition’s meeting with the Police Service Welfare Association, First Division Police Officers, Chamber of Commerce, Natuc, and the Keith Noel Committee.

Panday reported, "We found no one who felt the Prime Minister should retain the veto."

He said several alternatives were put forward during the discussions, and the Opposition intended to marshal them all in their presentation to the Government team.

Panday said the veto effectively gives the Prime Minister the power to name the Commissioner of Police.

In fact, Panday said the general view was that the anti-crime proposals put forward by the Government were inadequate, and needed more work.

He said the view was also that this kind of piecemeal amendment did not seem to be able to do the work, hence the need for constitutional reform.

Panday said most of the groups also mentioned that the Police Service Regulations needed to be updated. He said the regulations were still talking "in today’s age" about policemen being a certain size and height. "We are not in the colonial days where you have to be big, bad and ugly in order to be a policeman because you had to suppress the children of slaves and indentured labourers. Height is not important, intelligence is," he said. Panday lamented that Government was trying "new ideas into an old existing framework which does not work." "We are still in the old syndrome," he added.

Panday said the chamber is to present extensive proposals on the regulations, and on the Police Complaints Authority.

Stephen Cadiz said the Noel Committee did not support the veto. "The politics giving into the Police Service is not right," he said. Questioned on the issue of Oswyn Allard, Cadiz said the PM should be decisive on the Oswyn Allard issue. The Prime Minister, Cadiz said, should say why he is not approving Allard’s appointment. If there was an issue with Oswyn Allard, deal with it now. He said issues were allowed to drag out for years. "For years they are talking about rogue cops. Why can’t they deal with them?" he asked, adding that there was nothing in the existing legislation that said you cannot get rid of rogue cops. "There is always a way to do it. The issue is whether there is the will to do it," he said.

He said the Commissioner of Police has to be given the authority to do his job, and if he is found to be incapable, there must be the provision to fire him. "It all comes down to one thing — accountability," he said.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar noted that nothing had been done to implement measures which did not require legislation. The Government and Opposition teams will meet next Friday.