T&T Parliament approves appointment of first female top cop

Deputy Police Commissioner, Erla Harewood-Christopher has been appointed Trinidad and Tobago’s first female police commissioner. Her nomination was approved in Parliament on Friday.

All 36 members of the Parliament, voted in her favour . She replaced Gary Griffith, whose tenure ended on August 18, 2018.

According to reports from Loop news, during the debate, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley rejected claims from the Opposition that there was political interference in the selection of Christopher, who is due to retire from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service in May when she reaches the age of 60.

“However, he told legislators that the Police Service Act makes provisions for her to be in the post on a contract basis. Rowley had during his contribution, said that the PSC had nominated Harewood-Christopher, who had been acting in the post since December last year, “as the highest-grade candidate”.

The new deputy commissioner has been described as “very well qualified through training and academia” and told legislators that his administration was not surprised that the PSC would have listed her as the top applicant at this time.

Meanwhile Opposition legislator, Dr Roodal Moonilal, “the only opposition legislator to speak during the debate, said that he had no problem with her qualifications.

But he said it was regrettable that she did not have any history of crime-fighting on the field”

“Whether that is an advantage or a disadvantage one could never tell,” he said, adding also that it was unfortunate that the names of those who were listed by the PSC as second and third, were not made public.