The resignation of a second member of the Police Service Commission has put the entire process to appoint a substantive Commissioner of Police in a tailspin.
On Saturday, the Office of the President said President Paula-Mae Weekes accepted the resignation of Dr Susan Craig-James on Friday. This now cripples any further action of the PSC as it does not have a quorum to make any decisions, including giving instructions to attorneys involved in two pending court cases.
On Tuesday, the Office of the President said the President had accepted the resignation of industrial relations consultant Courtney McNish from the PSC.
"The Commission now stands inquorate, as the only remaining members are the chairman, Ms Bliss Seepersad and Mr Roger Kawalsingh. There is a notification which is with Parliament at this time and the Office of the President will make every effort to fill the two recent vacancies at the soonest," the release said.
The PSC now has three vacancies to fill and there are reports that Kawalsingh intends to also resign on Monday. The President has reportedly written Kawalsingh seeking an explanation in writing for his decision to copy Griffith in an e-mail objecting to the chairman's decision to suspend Griffith on September 17.
The resignation of the two members follows objections from three of them to the chairman's decision to suspend Griffith from duty pending the outcome of an investigation by retired judge Stanley John into allegations of corruption in the granting of firearm user's licences and the possible interference in an investigation against Christian Chandler, the head of the police service legal unit.
[caption id="attachment_915117" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Police Service Commission chairman Bliss Seepersad presents Gary Griffith with his letter of appointment as Commissioner of Police on August 3, 2018. Griffith's term ended on August 17, 2021. -[/caption]
Chandler was detained by the Coast Guard and the police Coastal and Riverine Unit on August 5, on a boat off Chaguaramas with three police officers, a businessman and eight women allegedly in breach of the public health regulations. The investigation has been widened to include other possible criminal offences.
Griffith on Saturday shared a copy of a letter from Seepersad, dated September 23, which withdrew his notice of suspension on the basis of him voluntarily going on leave pending the outcome of the John probe. He says that means he remains the acting CoP while on leave.
The debacle surrounding the appointment of Griffith to remain in office as CoP after his three-year contract expired on August 17 was birthed in a specific change in the law crafted by the Attorney General and approved by the government.
Had there been no change in law, which sought to empower the PSC to appoint a former contract officer as the acting CoP, the events of the last two weeks would not have taken place, according to senior lawyers.
The Prime Minister has described the change in the law, which his administration approved, as "an
