Leadership is not just about the person with the title but the whole team.

Introduction

The announcement of the imminent departure of our Commissioner of Police was greeted with praises by many people. I believe the reason why people are happy about the announcement is the fact that there are so many unresolved criminal cases and there are many criminals walking and driving around free in the community and in other parts of the world.

Until we address and start holding the management team accountable and do a review of the Police Department, no matter who the Commissioner of Police is, it will be challenging in achieving the vision of Police Department which is “to make the Turks and Caicos a safe and secure country in which to visit, invest and live.”

The structure of the Police Department.

The Police Department has an executive team headed by the Commissioner of Police along with the Deputy Commissioner and two assistant commissioners of Police.   The Commissioner of Police is to lead the command, while the Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the operational lead. One of the assistant commissioners of Police is responsible for response, operations, communities and engagement and the other assistant commission of Police covers crime and specialist operations.

Therefore, each member of the team has different responsibilities. Naturally, as the head of the Royal Turks and Caicos, the Commissioner will be blamed.  In my opinion, leadership is not just about the person with the top title but the whole team.

The Head of the Police time is up.

I know being the head of an organization is not easy. It is a huge responsibility, and you must take the blame for most things in the organization. I cannot blame the police for the crimes but rather I blame them for not catching the criminals. I think we have many unresolved social, political, spiritual, and mental issues in our country that are resulting in criminals.

However, I do believe that some of the criminals can be caught had not been for the lack of consistency, lack of visibility and for the lack of trust that exists between the community and the Police. In this regard, the Police have failed us. Therefore, I do believe it is time for a new head of Police as a new head may bring a fresh and new perspective to the Force and may even create a level of fear among the criminals. While four years in a position may not be too long, one year in a position can be too long if the objectives are not met.

Some of the others’ time is up too.

Sometimes we can be very biased. Our focus should not be on whether the Commissioner of Police is local or not. The rest of the management team is locals, and we should also hold them accountable for their roles too.

The thing is whoever becomes the top police, he or she will still be surrounded by the same management team. If they are not changed, then how do we expect the situation in the country to change.

With all due respect to the management team and the services they have provided, I think we should consider replacing some or all the management otherwise we may get the same results.

Conclusion

I am quite sure some positive things may have been done as mentioned in the press statement from the Governor and with that said, I will use the opportunity to thank the Commissioner of Police and his team for their efforts. However, as someone on the outside looking in, I don’t see or hear often about criminals being caught, charged, and faced with justice for the crimes they have done.

I think the Police Department needs a revamping. The Social Department needs revamping. Immigration needs revamping. Our homes need revamping.

Getting a new Police Commissioner is not enough. It will help with a new direction and hopefully a shakeup of the force, but it will not stop the crimes until the root causes of the crimes are addressed.