Amid concerns over violent crimes, guns and drugs importation, movement of criminals across borders and an exodus of police officers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the government has announced 66 new positions for the Ministry of National Security.
An additional deputy commissioner of police is among the positions that the government announced during the presentation of the Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure last week.
This will take the number of deputy commissioners of police in SVG to two, strengthening the hierarchy, which has four assistant commissioners of police.
Prime Minister Godwin Friday said the police force will take the bulk of the positions in national security.
Other new positions provided for by the Friday administration are: one superintendent of police, two inspectors of police, three station sergeants, four sergeants, six corporals, 20 constables and four traffic wardens.
Friday said the traffic wardens were added “to provide support” for the traffic department and they could not have come sooner.
“I know for most persons driving in and out of Kingstown, in and around Kingstown, that the challenges of keeping the traffic moving — sometimes it’s better to get out and walk — is really quite something that we have to look at comprehensively, not just as a matter of having more personnel,” Friday said.
He said that at this stage, the four traffic wardens have been added to provide some assistance but there is to be “a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the traffic situations, particularly in and around Kingstown and Arnos Vale”.
For the Coast Guard Service, the marine arm of the police force, the government has provided positions for: two chief petty officers, three petty officers, two leading seamen, and two able-body seamen.
In relation to the Immigration Department, the government announced that six new positions for officers will enable the department to meet increasing demands at the new Kingstown Port and the Argyle International Airport.
Friday said that NEMO, the government disaster response agency, has been given five new posts “to further enhance their human resource capacity”.
These include one community field officer to further strengthen operations in the Grenadines, one facilities officer, and three light equipment operators.
Meanwhile, debating the fiscal package, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, St. Clair Leacock said that he had met with the senior officers of the constabulary.
“I spoke to the commissioner of police, spoken to his deputy. I’ve spoken to the assistant commissioners. I’ve spoken to the Police Welfare Association,” he told lawmakers.
“It seems to me, because you know I speak bold, one of them came and asked me for 80 days leave without even saying good morning, and tell me how he’s going. And then I hear he asked for more leave while he’s — so assume that you resign. So he could press the clothes,” Leacock said, referring to one of the four ACPs.
“But we’ll put a proper team in place and we’ll build a modern police service from the ground up,” said Leacock, who attained the rank of major in the SVG Cadet Force and is a former commandant of the Auxiliary Police Force.
“You will no longer have to wait, after a period of time, to when you get into your late 40s and your 50s, and you begin to be manipulated by the political directorate and carry news on one another to reach commissionership,” he said.
“You’ll have the existence of what is called an esprit de corps that knows how a modern police force should be conducted,” he said.
Leacock said an officer should not spend 25 years as a constable either.
“… because you have a right to a political belief. This nonsense must stop,” he said, suggesting that some police officers are not being promoted because of their political beliefs.