INTO THE graveyard for elite police units formed then disbanded now goes the Special Operations Response Team (SORT).
According to acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob, a decision to disband SORT was taken after the police executive received findings from the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) and others - including an international partner - relating to the deaths, while in police custody, of Andrew Morris and Joel Belcon.
A brand new entity called the National Operational Task Force (NOTF) is to take SORT's place.
Yet, without any real accountability and oversight, simply changing the name, disbanding or tinkering with the organisational structure of police units make the entire initiative meaningless.
In fact, these rebrandings create the impression of an organisation in a perpetual tailspin, with ad hoc changes being made whenever a new person sits in the police commissioner's chair. That is the last thing expected of an organisation whose job is to maintain stability, law and order.
Unless police officers are better held to account for wrongdoing and unless oversight provided by entities such as the PCA is deepened, the NOTF is destined to go the way of all of its predecessors.
That there is a need for more robust independent oversight was underlined just last week when members of the internal police unit which investigates officers appeared before a Parliament committee.
According to the head of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB), acting Snr Supt Suzette Martin, the bureau has investigated the conduct, or lack thereof, of 500 police officers over the last four years.
While the numbers have been steadily rising, they are clearly a drop in the bucket. For example, in 2018 just 82 officers were probed. There are about 6,500 police officers in the TTPS.
Officials told Parliament that the bulk of officers against whom action is taken are charged either with misbehaviour in public office, corruption and/or perverting the course of public justice.
All these raise serious questions about what the PSB's capacity is, what type of cases get prioritised, and how effectively conflicts of interest are managed.
It is hard not to surmise, rightly or wrongly, a link between the type of internal offences policed and the relatively low numbers probed with the fact that police are probing police.
It is certainly the case that the public seldom gets answers when it comes to the most serious cases, such as police-involved civilian deaths (though in some instances charges have been laid).
The SORT was simply the latest in a long line of elite squads, such as the Special Anti-Crime Unit (SUATT) set up on dubious legal authority to beef up policing.
Ironically, the fact that there is such frequent resort to such 'special' units suggests unaddressed failings within the ordinary hierarchy of the police organisation itself. Simply put, the TTPS needs to sort itself out after the demise of SORT.
The post Same ole,same ole appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
