BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMMISSIONER of Police (COP) Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn has confirmed that his contract for that position is being renewed, news that has fuelled debate within the Federation.
Walwyn – during a ceremony held at Warner Park on August 31, 2011 – was handed the baton of authority by outgoing Commissioner Austin Williams. There he pledged to usher in a new era of crime fighting within the Federation signalling to gangs and other criminally-minded individuals that “all gloves are off”.
He did also indicate on a separate occasion that the life of his contact was three years and within the past week, the Commissioner - while speaking on FreedomFM, Walwyn indicated that he was asked by the government to continue in his capacity as COP.
“The government has asked me to stay and my wife and I have thought about it and my contract ends on Sunday, my three years. I’m gonna say something that’s gonna make somebody upset but I’m gonna say it anyway. Good Morning, Mr. Astaphan, the three years has come and I didn’t leave. And 2014 is here as you stated in the article and I’m staying…Sorry…”
Former Minister of National Security and founder of Operation Rescue Dwyer Astaphan told WINNFM that he does not believe that the Commissioner’s contract should be renewed. He said while there are some areas in which he has succeed, there are many others in which he has failed the Federation.
“I don’t think he has done very well at all. There has been increased hostility against citizens. The murder rate has gone down but solving the murders has not… and there are a number of other things. And this is not to be pointing fingers at police men along the chain of command, if leadership looks for credit, leadership has to take responsibility as well and the politicisation of the police force – in my opinion – is worse than it has been in ages. Some people might dispute that but I think the facts are quite evident on that one.
On the other hand, both the Leader of the National Integrity Party Glenroy Blanchette and the Deputy Leader Roy Fleming have expressed that they are pleased with the Commissioner’s work in the Federation in driving the levels of crime downward.
Prior to the Commissioner’s announcement, there was widespread debate on whether or not the Commissioner should continue in that stead and since his announcement, the debate has been fuelled.
Areas in which some indicate that Commissioner Walwyn has failed include: taking a decision not to publish the crime statistics as was done in the past, the apparent increase in robberies and related crimes, an either the reduction or stagnation in the rate of detection and having individuals arrested and released without prosecution because of lack of evidence.
And areas in which persons state the Commissioner has succeeded include: the dramatic reduction in the number of violent crimes, an increase in training for the officers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, the procurement of resources, a positive shift of the operations of the Force and the establishment of a number of crime-fighting initiatives.
The COP's contract would have been renewed yesterday (Sept. 1).
