By Prior Beharry
WITHIN minutes of being appointed Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PolSC), retired Justice Judith Jones was sent a letter from former commissioner of police (CoP) Gary Griffith.
AZPNews.com received a copy of the letter sent by Griffith’s attorney Larry Lalla. It deals with two issues.
Lalla writes, “Firstly, I would like to obtain an urgent update from you as to the status of the Merit List since my client has a legitimate expectation that the said Merit List would be re-submitted to Her Excellency, the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as required by Section 123(3) of the Constitution.
“Secondly, my client has serious concerns about the constitutionality and lawfulness of the withdrawal of the Merit List on August 11th 2021.”
The letter stated that Griffith had a legitimate expectation to get answers and listed chronology of events regarding the process of the appointment of a new police commissioner.
Lalla stated that Griffith was appointed police commissioner from August 17, 2018 to August 16, 2021.
He said, “During the three-year period of his contract Mr. Griffith, at great personal and family sacrifice, performed the functions of his office in a commendable manner and in that regard was not the subject of a single negative report from the PolSC in relation to the performance of the functions of his office.”
Lalla said Griffith could have easily “called it a day” but out of love for his country decided “to continue the good work he had begun in rebuilding and rebranding the Police Service, the fact that under him public trust and confidence in the TTPS moved from 14% to 42% and the further fact that in a national poll conducted earlier this year, an astounding 89% of persons polled indicated that they wanted him to remain as Police Commissioner.”
The attorney said that Griffith decided to reapply for the position of CoP and on July 23, 2021, the acting Director of Public Administration wrote to him saying that he had been accepted as a candidate for the position.
According to the letter Griffith went through an interview and four types of assessment:
- An “In-Basket Exercise” that was geared at assessing his ability to think and act in role at very short notice;
- A Case Study segment which was intended to assess critical behavioral competencies that an ideal candidate in the role of Commissioner of Police should demonstrate;
- The Presentation segment of the assessment that was intended to assess his ability to communicate effectively and to think on the spot; and
- A psychometric assessment;
Griffith also underwent a medical exam to get a “fit for work” certificate, provided a credit report from TransUnion and reports from two referees.
Lalla said in a letter dated August 15, 2021, the PolSC appointed Griffith to act as CoP effective from August 17, 2021.
The letter stated that Griffith’s acting appointment was made subsequent to the completion of his application and interview process and claimed therefore that the PolSC maintained confidence in him.
Lalla said, “In the events that have unfolded subsequent to August 15th 2021 and from the information in the public domain, it appears that the PolSC completed its preparation and work on the Merit List for appointment of a substantive Commissioner of Police and performed the constitutional act (under Section 123(3) of the Constitution) of submitting the Merit List to Her Excellency the President on August 11th 2021, but that for some yet-to-be-explained reason, the Merit List was withdrawn from the Office of the President on the same day.”
He added, “The legality and constitutionality of the ‘withdrawal’ of the Merit List is not readily apparent or discernible and urgently requires public explanation by the PolSC.”
Members of the former PolSC subsequently resigned and, Lalla wrote that as a candidate, Griffith “has not been informed by the PolSC of the reason why the completed Merit List was withdrawn or its present status.”
Lalla stated that information in the public domain stated that the former chairman’s withdrawal of the Merit List took place on August 11, 2021 after she was met at President’s House by a public official who had an interest in preventing the list from going forward to Parliament and who had an interest.
He said that such withdraw by the last chairman appeared to have been a unilateral act and not approved by her fellow commissioners.
Lalla said, “If this is correct, our concern for you and your fellow Commissioners is that you do not allow yourselves to be seen as facilitating the intention of that public official by refusing our very reasonable requests set out above or by engaging in a finessed avoidance of the issues we have raised.”
