THE search for a Commissioner of Police is at an advanced stage despite the filing of an injunction by one applicant to stop it.
This is the second time that the Public Service Commission (PSC) is attempting to find a successor to Acting Commissioner Errol Alexander who is scheduled to go on pre-retirement leave early next month.
King, who spoke to The VOICE yesterday said that the Commission should come up with a successor to Alexander before he commences his pre-retirement leave and that person would be a Saint Lucian.
King said: “We did not have any foreigner applying for the position.”
Assistant Superintendent Brian Samuel had attempted to block the first process by filing a court injunction against it. It was believed then that the Commission had abandoned the process before the court gave a ruling.
However yesterday, the Commission’s Chairman, Wilbert King said that the process was not abandoned. He said that the process went through its completeness without a selection being made because the Commission could not find someone who met all the criteria, standards and whatever else it was looking for.
“It is believed that by going through with the interview aspect of the process a selection should be made. What is not known is that the interview is not the only factor when it comes to selecting someone for the post. The interview is very significant and carries a lot of weight but it is not the only factor in the selection process. You need to do background checks, reference checks and a few other things. We went through the first round of interviews and did not make a selection,” King said, adding that the Commission did not stop the first process when Samuel filed his injunction to stop the first process.
The court will be hearing Samuel’s injunction on April 7. The second attempt to find a replacement for Alexander was not entirely similar to the first process in that the requirements were different and less stiff, according to King to attract a wider pool of applicants.
However Samuel has again filed an injunction to block it, King said.
The filing was done last week and the case is expected to be heard on the same day next month as the first injunction.
However King is not perturbed at all at Samuel’s latest attempt to block the process. He said he is confident that an explanation in court by the Comission will be cleared up in its favour.
Samuel is objecting to the process on the grounds of discrimination in past promotional appointments and the selection process for Commissioner, among other things.
“The filings have no bearing on our work. Right now the Commission does not have an injunction against it. All that is there are filing of injunctions. We have completed interviews for the second process,” King said.
However that process will lead to the selection of someone to replace Alexander, assured King, who declined to state whether someone has already been selected by the Commission.
