A Step in the Right Direction

If the age-old adage of ''if it aint broken don't fix it'' holds true, then surely the opposite must apply as well...''If it is broken then yuh better damn well fix it!'' The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has stagnated in the realms of mediocrity for way too long. Practices from a bygone era are followed chapter and verse and any attempt to alter this course is greeted with accusations of blasphemy. However, subtle cracks are beginning to appear within the thin blue line. Senior police officers are up in arms (pardon the pun) over plans to promote those more junior in service ahead of them. At the centre of this debate lies the new Merits-Based Promotion System being pioneered by the Police hierarchy and the Police Service Commission.

For those unfamiliar with the new system, it determines an officer's suitability for promotion by assessing a number of categories. An officer is awarded 30 points for Performance and Appraisal, 20 points for Fitness, 15 points for Discipline, 10 points for Length of Service, and 5 points each for Academic Qualifications and Commendations. The aggrieved parties claim that the junior officers considered for promotion have manipulated the system. Their grievance stems from the misconceived notion that while they were busy maintaining law and order and ensuring national security, these junior officers were allowed time-off in the form of study leave to gain academic qualifications. If ever there was a case in point as to why some of these senior officers should go back to school, it is this one. The system allows but a mere 5 points for academic prowess. In a total of 85 points, that is not a hell of a lot. An officer can return to work with a P.H.D. in Criminology after having seven years leave. Should he or she choose to go for promotion, their maximum entitlement for that qualification would still be 5 points. So, when the system allows more points (10) for the experience gained by being a longer serving officer, it is hard to see the validity of their argument.

To quote the Trinidad Express, the officers by-passed for promotion claim to have been,'' busy enforcing the law, bringing cases against criminal offenders and attending court to present cases while their colleagues are allowed time-off to enhance their academic qualifications and manipulate the system.''1* Do these officers think that we are stupid? Do they think that we do not read the papers and watch the television on a daily basis? Do they not believe that we know people whose day to day lives are seriously troubled by crime and disorder? The Trinidad Express was also at great pains to point out that many of these officers work in specialist units. Is it not these same units that time and again fail to catch murderers, fail to stop kidnappings, fail to stop the bombs in Port-of Spain, and fail to stop the influx of guns, drugs and ammunition onto our streets? Must I remind these officers that Trinidad and Tobago recorded its highest ever level of homicide last year? Exactly how many of those murderers were apprehended and brought to justice? How many kidnappers? How many robbers? So, in an age where any Trinidadian with an ounce of sanity will acknowledge that crime is definitely on the increase, it begs the question. What exactly have these officers been so busy doing?

Don't be fooled by the scaremongers. The new system is being maligned because it goes against the grain. Promotion can no longer be viewed a a divine right of passage for some. The system is well-balanced and places the needs of the organisation ahead of the wants of a selfish few. Hard-working officers will have nothing to fear. They will continue to be rewarded by the provisions of the new system. Lazy officers on the other hand will find it increasingly difficult to ''gum-beat'' their way to the next rank. The Merits-Based Promotion System will inject some much needed life-blood into an institution that many feared had been drifting aimlessly into oblivion. It can only be viewed as a much needed step in the right direction.

1* Taken from The Trinidad Express Newspapers online edition dated 28/05/2006.

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