The system of promotion within the Police Service is just like a little devil in the backyard. Those were the words of retired deputy commissioner of Police Wayne Dick, who was called before the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on National Security yesterday.
Admitting that most of the issues highlighted in the Police Manpower Audit Committee, that was chaired by Professor Ramesh Deosaran, were real issues, Dick added that sadly it was the way he left it back in May 2017, when he retired, having served for 40 years.
Dick, who gave a lot of personal experience, explained that when promotion time hits the air, senior officers disappear for months, leaving junior officers in charge.
Giving a real example, Dick said in 2010 when he headed the Homicide Bureau he was acting when they called them for books to study for the first part of the process.
He said his colleague, who ranked just as him, chose to stay away from active duty, investigating to solve murders, to stay home to study. In the end, he said, he was confirmed while his colleague ranked very low.
“I would tell him, buddy, let’s stay and solve this and he would say no I have to go and study…in that three months I saw him twice and the two times he came to get his travelling signed and I spoke to him about it,” Dick said.
“The system is not a good system while it may be good intended it turned out to be a little devil in the backyard,” he added. Dick suggested that the previous method of having officers go before the chairman of a Promotion Advisory Board was better in the sense that they were able to identify who was worthy of that promotion.He also stressed that there lacks proper leadership, training and discipline. He suggested that a team should be established of retired police officers who still have that genuine passion for the career to come together to train officers who are currently in the service.
He stressed that training should a continuous one for officers throughout their respective service years. Dick explained that over the years, in interviewing criminals he learnt that police officers who are not disciplined in adhering to wearing their required uniforms and who choose to dress down “like the gangsters on the street,” and who sport mohawks and coloured hairstyles and tongue piercings are not respected and will never earn respect from the people out there.
Whilst agreeing with persons having high forms of education including tertiary and university degrees added that some times people who may have little or no education become very successful in policing.
