CoP shortlisting ‘soon come’
Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick and Police Commissioner David Baines
(CNS): The governor’s office has confirmed that more than 50 people have applied for the post of commissioner of police, despite claims that the circumstances surrounding the current top cop’s departure would deter candidates. Among the applicants is at least one Caymanian but officials have not given any further details ahead of the shortlisting process, which is set to begin this week. Meanwhile, a former politician and possible 2017 candidate has been nominated to serve on the interview panel by the opposition leader.
As the process to find a replacement for David Baines, who resigned as a result of mounting local pressure a year before his contract was completed, begins this week, the interview panel has been confirmed.
The panel for the shortlisted candidates will include Governor Helen Kilpatrick, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Bermuda’s Commissioner of Police Michael DeSilva. Sitting alongside the civil servants will be two local members of the community who were nominated by the premier and the opposition leader.
Premier Alden McLaughlin selected leading local businessman Don Seymour, the owner of the DMS group of companies. Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush has nominated Linford Pierson, a former politician and Cabinet colleague who may join the political fray in 2017.
Pierson served as a minister in Bush’s 2001-2005 cabinet before he took up the post of speaker in the Legislative Assembly for the remainder of that administration. He lost his George Town seat, which he had held for 16 years, in the 2005 national poll and has not run in a general election since. However, the 75-year-old is now tipped to lead a third party for the May 2017 General Election, opening up the possibility that a future serving politician would have had a hand in selecting the country’s most senior police officer.
The RCIPS is also interviewing for the post of deputy commissioner, which will be vacated by Steve Brougham when his contract ends in September. That post has only been advertised locally.
David Baines will be formally quitting his job next Tuesday, a year before his contract ends, though he has been paid up until May 2017 because the governor decided that the pressure to quit and complaints from the community, and from opposition politicians in particular, amounted to constructive dismissal.
A catalogue of questions and complaints about the commissioner’s seven years as the head of the RCIPS, from the disappearance of drugs from the evidence locker to the way he handled recruitment and retention. Baines took up the post in June 2009 following a series of temporary commissioners after Stuart Kernohan was sacked by then governor Stuart Jack in the fallout from Operation Tempura.
Kernohan and the Cayman Islands Government reached an undisclosed six figure sum in out of court settlement last year.
Category: Local News
Training the RCIP to be “better” at their job isn’t just the issue. It also has to do with the laws that they are sworn to uphold. You can have highly trained officers enforcing brainwashed laws, and before you know it your being extorted by the very people who are sworn to keep the peace.
The crime problems of Cayman are not being addressed. We have not paid any attention to the root causes:
-Poor/absent parenting
-Culture of overwhelming self entitlement
-Lack of morals
-Poor education systems
I could go on but this forum is not my life. When these things are resolved we will see some change. However, as long as people raise their children to think that anything they want to do regardless of right and wrong there will always be problems and Northward will always be full of Caymanian men.
Throughout our lives there is always a police presence wherever we are because each person is thought (or should be taught to police themselves, make good decisions about what you will and will not do. Why change when the courts and a jury of your equally immoral peers will free you anyway? Never mind. I guess Cayman will never seek to change In the interest of its citizens, security and economy.
Here is the bottom line.
The police suck.
The government sucks.
Our governor sucks.
Our cost of living sucks.
The Lodge sucks us dry and quite frankly, I am tired of subsidizing losers.
Hopefully the media does not suck?
Someone needs to raise the quality of the rank and file police. Every one that I have had contact with acted like a moron. Otherwise I don’t think it matters who the commissioner is.
I think that we should work together to have our RCIPS properly trained. What I am saying is: let us select someone for the overall training of the RCIPS, that is competent and effective. I think the biggest problem here on Grand Cayman, is the lack of knowledge that our officers have. They are not trained properly, thus they cannot execute their duties responsibly. We need someone to take these reins and have the horses do what is expected of them, so to speak. I remember asking my dad at a young age, why certain people did certain things? He replied: “if you don’t know better, you can not do better”. We need someone with the professional criteria in training of these officers, so they then can execute their jobs professionally. Also, when these officers are hired they should have a weekly or monthly performance review. If they are not performing to the standards that they should be, then there should be some disciplinary actions, until they can learn properly!! Too much ineffective management in the RCIPS now, let us start in getting our officers trained to a high, professional standard.
“It’s all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you’re properly trained”.
Clearly you know the training department of the RCIPS so well. And the RCIPS officers, especially those that have come from other jurisdictions where they are trained fully. end sarcasm.
Have you ever heard the saying ” you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear”?
This ridiculous insistence of employing people based on where they are from rather than what they can do will never take this small island forward.
You cannot polish a richard the third.
Sorry anonymous 8:57 pm, but I do know the training department of law enforcement, I used to be a law enforcement officer. I am not being sarcastic, but nothing is going to improve if you cannot see a problem and have it fixed instead of ignoring it!! I am no longer in law enforcement but I still have contact with those that are, I must say some do need some serious training, they are not up to par. I am not trying to be insulting, but the only how we are going to improve the law enforcement on these Islands is to have the officers properly trained. Also, if the hat does not fit you, then that is great.
“Law enforcement officer”!
Verbose Americanism. If you were a cop, just say so.
Anonymous 2:16 pm. Maybe the tool needs some sharpening, there are more than one agency for law enforcement. I will help you figure it out!! Cop and Customs if that helps any. Non Verbose Americanism.
Dear Sunrise, reread your post and ponder how you can make your valid point more succinct.
Hi anonymous 6:19 am: this is just one academy in one of the bigger countries and their training criteria. I think this may answer your question better, just comparing to the training on these Islands.
All entry level police officers commence their employment with 33 weeks of training.
Training requires dedication and a commitment to success. The training is rigorous, disciplined and thorough, it is also physically, academically and mentally demanding.
Academy training hours are usually 7:30 am to 4:00 pm Monday to Friday, but these hours may be varied to include some afternoon shifts. There may also be a need to undertake study in the evenings after classes end for the day, especially prior to exams.
Over the 33 week training phase, your days at the Academy will be divided between lectures, physical training and learning the operational skills necessary to carry out your duties. During the first 23 weeks you will be tested in written exams, practical exams, report writing and communication skills.
In weeks 13, 18 and 26, you will perform duties at a police station and on the Safe Streets initiative. Your duties will be expanded over time as you gain knowledge, skills and experience. By training both at the Academy and at a police station or in other settings, you will become a capable, confident and professional member of our team.
This intensive training is just the beginning of your journey.
Over the next 83 weeks you will undergo further training, with at least one scheduled return to the Academy. When you have successfully completed all this, you will graduate with a Diploma of Public Safety and be confirmed as a Constable.
So, 33 and 83 weeks make a total of 116 weeks, divided by 52.143 weeks which is a year, then we have over two years of training before you are eligible to become a Constable. Big difference than the training here don’t you think?
You do realize that this may mean some police officers will be required to attend and pass primary level education.
That is exactly the point. Putting a bunch of uneducated Jamaicans in a police uniform does not change who they are.
So more than 50 applicants makes a mockery of ALDONE statement that Ezzard and Arden motion would make it difficult to recruit a CoP
How come two neverbeens got such a problem with a man who is clearly a much better leader than they could ever hope to be? In fact Alden is clearly a much better leader than we have had in any recent times.
We just need someone who can deal with the punks on the streets and the punks in the LA.
Derek Haines rescued the Islands when the experiment in appointing a born Caymanian as commissioner didn’t work out.
He was then treated disgracefully and should now be given the job he already proved a success at.
One failed Caymanian COP vs. At least 3 failed foreign COPs and we still think an Caymanian cannot do the job? You obviously have a bias
No supposedly failed overseas Chief of Police has EVER failed as spectacularly and embarrassingly for us Caymanians as poor old Buel, 12:08. Go on, man up and admit it.It was dreadful.And the public don’t actually know the full details as it was kept quiet (to prevent Caymanian embarrassment) and he was retired on full pre-retirement benefits for TWO years.
Don’t think Derek would want that poison chalice!
If not a qualified Caymanian, then someone qualified from the UK please. We have enough people in the RCIP struggling to speak properly and construct sentences at an acceptable level.
Is there any truth in the rumour that the former Tempura SIO, Martin Bridger, applied for the job?
Just put the Caymanian in the job. That way you won’t get any moaning or complaints. Let the chips then fall where they may! Because you know if you put in an expat – the whole of Caymans woes will be their fault. I’m sick of hearing that we expats take all the jobs and everything is our fault so let’s just give em what.
I sympathize , but a Caymanian CoP will very quickly be owned by unscrupulous politicians who will buy favors by giving all his relatives high paying jobs with government.
I know that, you know that, but at least we then cannot be blamed.
Yup, and I agree. But it’s got to the point where I think Cayman needs a bit of a shake, a wake up call, a slap of reality! I am so sick of expats being targeted as the reason for the countries failures, I actually want to bare witness to what happens when they get what they so desperately naively want. Perhaps then they will learn !
Your perfect homeland beckons…oblige
…and giving status
Ear plugs would help.
Changing the person who is Chief of Police, even if it’s a Caymanian, won’t make the slightest difference. The causes of crime remain untouched and blaming it on someone else, especially a foreigner, is what we excel at in Cayman…especially the Man from the North Side.
Please tell me Steven Segal is on the list of applicants.
Obama will be free shortly….
Baines is leaving, now if they can only find someone that can do the job. Not any past quitters or someone with the same old backward way of thinking. A person with a fresh frame of thought someone who can think outside of the box. Put and end to the type of crime we are living through on a daily basis.
Here’s a thought: how about appointing someone who isn’t a cop? An administrator who can liaise effectively with and between the force, the governor and the politicians; who comes to the position unencumbered by preconceived police notions; who has his/her own vision about what is needed of a police force here; and who is a civilian. Why does the commissioner have to concern him/herself in day-to-day operational matters, anyway? Isn’t that for his/her deputies? Remember, police are nothing more than citizens in uniform. We want someone who recognizes the wood and not just the trees.
The composition of this selection panel is truly bizarre. What agency(ies) will instruct these legal novices on the necessary evaluation criteria for narrowing down the field of candidates? Are we expecting them to just throw darts?
Probably the same agency that instructed Mary Lawrence and, to a lesser extent, Kirkland Nixon, on how to be an expert in air/sea search and rescue, 1:13.
Who are the Caymanian applicants, I wonder? Shouldn’t they get priority?
I heard Mac applied….he should definitely get priority attention from the Police…
Helen Kilpatrick’s handling of Baines departure has been disgraceful and demonstrates her own incompetence. The excuses made are laughable and insult the intelligence of any rationale Caymanian. Proving yet again that there is a clear double standard when dealing with “us versus them” situations in the governance of these islands.
Paying off David Baines as a reward for loyalty should directly come out of her budget. If he was Caymanian he would have been fired out right for cause.The Governor has not sought to hold her Commissioner of Police accountable for any management failings since her arrival. Her focus is not the protection and security of the Cayman Islands as the Head of the Civil with direct line management of RCIPS Commissioner of Police.
11.36, if you are going to make uninformed comments, at least do so with humour. The Governors budget is paid for by CIG. And what was disgraceful? Baines did a pretty good job considering his hands are probably tied behind his back by the lodge and other interests. He does not lack guts, he has proven that, so all else is the wonderful Cayman Marl road stuff which it turns out is more dangerous that would first appear.
Everything you said made perfect sense but then you had to make yourself look daft with these references to the lodge and other interests
12.04, writing comments at midnight is never sensible…either that or you have not been here long…
Best comment I have read so far. All thumbs up, in fact all hands raised up high.
Get it straight. Baines has been run out of the job by the haters. Not the first member of the RCIP to do so. Why should he not be compensated since effectively he was doing an ok job but was prevented from continuing in the role. Pleae don’t talk about ” if he was Caymanian” because we all know if he was Caymanian not matter how incompetent he was he would either be still in the job or moved to another equally high paying job. I still wonder though why cut his tenure short…but who am I.
“The excuses made are laughable and insult the intelligence of any rationale Caymanian.”
Your failure to grasp English ruined your argument.
“If he was Caymanian he would have been fired out right for cause.”
Cayman has a track record of not firing indigenous people in positions of seniority in the Civil Service, merely putting them on extended ” gardening leave” whilst “investigations continue ” and appointing an ” acting head ” so I don’t think your statement holds water.
We need a local commissioner but not one who is currently in the RCIPS. I would look at ex senior Police officers who no have worked in the private sector in senior management jobs. You don’t really need Police experience to run the RCIPS You need great management experience, amazing senior team and respect from your entire work force, once you have that you team will follow up anywhere and will give you 100% unlike they are giving their management team right now.
We could look at for example.
Derek Haines
Dennis Brady
Philip Ebanks
What do you guys think of these names?
Em did Derek not get run out of the job too?
Quite disgracefully so I am told…
So CNS you have seen the list of candidates and can say that they are all outstanding candidates? Otherwise you cannot say that what the Premier stated is untrue.
You really don’t know whether 50 unqualified persons applied.
I belive that what the Premier stated is correct and we should have received many more applicants.
I have confidence that another outstanding commissioner will be chosen. Remember we all loved Baines when he was arresting high profile persons for corruption, catching robbers and drug dealers .
CNS: I have no idea what point you are making or how it relates to the above article.
Where did CNS make any comment on qualifications? All they said was that 50 or more people had applied despite the Premier saying candidates would be deterred. More than 50 applicants doesn’t seem to indicate much deterrance.
Kenny, please, please put the crack pipe down or stop posting on this forum. You are embarrassing yourself.
You are joking, 11:10, right?
I cant wait to open my bottle of “bubbly”. Hahahaha who got the last laugh. ROTFLMAO, bye bye tata
He got the last laugh you silly person. He is being paid for staying at home, and rightly so. He is laughing all the way to the bank.