THE EDITOR: CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher's eagerly awaited address on the occasion of her initial public appearance was unfortunate and indeed somewhat disappointing.

Her appointment as the first female Commissioner of Police left us the public with expectations. The enormity of the responsibility of her office as well as the peculiar preceding circumstances placed additional burden on her shoulders, more particularly as the first female to have been so invested.

Accordingly, many expected a crisp and no-nonsense outline of her plans to arrest the obvious decline in policing. There was also an expectation that she would have adhered to a strict and studious respect for the separation of her office from all extraneous, non-essential political and/or faith-held religious customs and/or beliefs.

As the feature speaker, her remarks were clearly inappropriate. Both attendees and her wider audience required meaningful insights into her policies and plans for change in policing in our beloved country.

The issues to be addressed relate to prevention, detection, apprehension and conviction for infractions of existing laws. This would have renewed our confidence that the police service is prepared to contribute meaningfully to the restoration of our collective respect for law and order.

While it is not yet too late, the way forward has become more difficult. Let us wish her well and trust that she would have overcome this initial hurdle. She needs to refocus and demonstrate clearly that she means business.

By charting a way forward based on the modern tools that are available and reliance on the application of appropriate technology but anchored on sound statistically-informed intelligence, the transformation can yet be achieved.

SAMUEL B HOWARD

via e-mail