Friday, November 20, 2009

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Police chief to retire By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: With the level of violent crime in The Bahamas escalating as the year nears an end, the Royal Bahamas Police Force is being positioned for new leadership. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham yesterday announced that Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson will retire January 4, 2010, but his replacement has not yet been named. "The process for the appointment of a new commissioner of police in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, and the new Police Act, will now be initiated and an announcement to that effect will be made in due course," the prime minister said in a statement. When asked about his retirement hours before the move was announced yesterday, Ferguson, 63, said he had no announcement to make, and that he would retire "in due course". He added that he could not speak to any announcement the prime minister might make. Ferguson reportedly met with the executive management of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) on Monday to inform the team of the move and also spoke to the divisional commanders of the force on Tuesday. Ferguson will retire on the exact date that the government intends to fully enact the Police Force Act, 2009, which stipulates that all officers upon reaching the age of 60 or having served 40 years (whichever comes first), shall retire from the force. Ferguson has served for nearly 45 years. He joined the force in late 1965. He was confirmed as commissioner in March, having acted in the post since November 2007. "In that short time, he has presided over continuing improvements and innovations as the force continues its service to the Bahamian people in maintaining law and order and facing the severe challenges presented by criminal elements," Ingraham said. Ferguson's retirement comes as the Progressive Liberal Party continues to blame the government for — as it sees it — failing to do more to address the crime problem. The nation's murder count stood at 76 up to press time last night, just two murders shy of the record 78 recorded in 2007. Late last week, Turnquest said that the murder detection rate stood at 73 percent for the year, which is higher than the percentage of murders police solved during the same period last year. Despite what Turnquest claims is a high detection rate, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has branded the Ingraham administration as "clueless" when it comes to crime solving. Last night in the House of Assembly, Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador MP Philip 'Brave' Davis asked the prime minister to inform the nation when he would appoint a new commissioner. "This is no time for lame duck leadership in the force," Davis said. "The government needs to inform the public about the future of that organization." The two front runners for the post are widely considered to be Acting Deputy Commissioner Ellison Greenslade and Senior Assistant Commissioner Marvin Dames. However, the prime minister can appoint whomever he wishes to be the next commissioner after Ferguson. Therefore, there is a possibility that neither will get the post. Ferguson is the fifth commissioner of police in an independent Bahamas. Any new commissioner will also have term limits that add up to a maximum of 10 years placed on him by the new act. Whoever replaces Ferguson will have to deal with high rates of murder, armed robbery, and crimes against property. In a brief statement last night, PLP chairman Bradley Roberts said Ferguson's retirement "should hopefully go a long way in lifting the moral of the RBPF." "It is most unfortunate that Commissioner Ferguson allowed himself to be a part of unwise decisions made by PM Hubert Ingraham and the FNM government. We wish him well in his retirement and we pray that once freed from the burden of office, will find it possible to speak truth to power thereby affirming that the FNM government is in fact clueless as to what to do about the very serious crime problem raging out of control in our Bahamas." The Ingraham administration recently asserted that the PLP's record does not reflect that crime was any less of a problem during the Christie administration. Thursday, November 19, 2009