Former Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is sounding the alarm over the recent announcement that Brenton Smith, a former politician and General Secretary of the New Democratic Party (NDP), is slated to be promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
Gonsalves is categorizing the move as a dangerous politicization of the police force that bypasses established constitutional procedures.
According to Gonsalves, Smith left the police force four or five years ago as a station sergeant to pursue a political career with the NDP. During this time, Smith publicly stated his ambitions to become Commissioner of Police, run as an NDP candidate, and eventually serve as a government minister.
While Gonsalves clarified that he holds no personal malice toward Smith and acknowledges him as an intelligent university graduate, he strongly objects to the unprecedented nature of the promotion. He criticized the fact that Smith is leapfrogging numerous ranks skipping past inspector, assistant superintendent, and superintendent to immediately join the top seven officers in the police force.
Gonsalves directed intense criticism at the Minister of National Security for publicly announcing the promotion and specifically assigning Smith to oversee human resources and internal promotions.
Gonsalves argues this announcement is a direct usurpation of the Police Service Commission’s authority to appoint officers, and the Police Commissioner’s duty to assign internal management roles. “Are we having a usurpation of the functions of the commission of police? Are we having a usurpation of the functions of the police service commission?” Gonsalves questioned. He expressed disbelief that the Police Service Commission, chaired by Laura Anthony Brown, would actually approve such an appointment if properly advised.
The announcement that Smith will handle promotions to eliminate political bias and “friend-friend” favors was met with sharp irony by Gonsalves. He pointed out the glaring contradiction in using a political appointee who was elevated from station sergeant to ACP purely due to political ties rather than special skills to enforce objective criteria.
Gonsalves warned that this move will severely damage morale among the 11 serving superintendents and 14 assistant superintendents who stayed and did the “heavy lifting” while Smith was engaged in politics. Furthermore, he cautioned that because Smith’s promotion is so overtly political, any future disciplinary or promotional decisions he makes will inevitably be viewed by those affected as being “tainted with politics”.