Colin John, former St. Vincent police commissioner, stated that if he had to rate himself throughout his term, he would give himself an eight (8) out of ten (10).
In an interview with Boom FM last week, John stated that there were important achievements as well as some missteps along the way.
“We were able to establish the Sexual Offenses Unit, which is a unit that deals specifically with sexual offenses as opposed to different outstations dealing with such matters.” You have police officers who specialize in sexual offenses, so they have been trained in that area, and they will be able to better treat victims of sexual abuse.”
“We also created a legal research and policy unit.” This is a unit that serves as a link between the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office and the police force. This would help to expedite the trials, as staff from that department would be handling the files. So, instead of having files sent to the DPP and back to say, well, alright, you need to amend this, a legally educated member of the unit would review the file before it is submitted to the DPP’s office.”
According to John, the method aids in the efficient functioning of the organization and easy case administration in law enforcement in general.
On the subject of regrets, John admitted that he would have given his detractors far too much time and attention at times.
“You have to expect criticism, and sometimes I just give some people too much attention in that regard . However, it is funny how those who had love me to dead, now love me to death”.
“I would have liked to see more police officers trained in specific areas; however, it’s not entirely my fault; the training is ultimately the officer’s responsibility.” However, there are some aspects I would have liked to have improved; while we have seen an increase in opportunities from an organizational standpoint, we could have marketed them more.”
John believes that there should have been more correspondence notifying people of training possibilities from time to time, and that the constabulary could have made a more determined effort in this area.
Concerning being undermined during his term, John stated that he believes some ranks of the constabulary could have done more to improve the institution’s reputation.
“I believe that some officers of various ranks could have performed better in order to improve the image and overall performance of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines police force, and that is something that I would really like to see people improve on.” Some of those people I would have approached directly, while others I would have approached at general membership lectures.”
“Everybody wants the best for themselves, and I would have often said at officer meetings that I would be really surprised if people did not want to aspire to the highest level within the organization, but that ambition must also go along with performance as a way of getting there” , he said.
