By SYANN THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of National Security Marvin Dames said yesterday that the secondment of Assistant Commissioner of Police Kendal Strachan to chief of security under the Ministry of Social Services is not a demotion nor is it personal. Mr Dames told reporters outside of the House of Assembly that the government had been making announcements about the changes at various government agencies, including the police force. The national security minster emphasised that the government wants to handle this transition with respect and sensitivity.

When asked if ACP Strachan’s move to chief of security to the Willie Mae Pratt and Simpson Penn juvenile detention schools was a demotion, he said: “Demoted? That’s incorrect, totally incorrect and it is nonsense. “I do know, however, we would have made these pronouncements a long time ago that these agencies are going through transition: the police, the defence force and the department of corrections, the government has taken a position. We are positioning these agencies for the future as is the case in the corporate and the private world that changes do happen, but as far as demotions are concerned that is totally incorrect.”

In March, several senior officers were directed to take outstanding vacation leave; ACP Strachan was among that group and upon his return was transferred to the Ministry of Social Services. ACP Strachan’s attorney Wayne Munroe described the secondment of his client as “insulting and disrespectful”.

Meantime, Mr Dames told reporters that the government is using all agencies to combat crime. “I know the position that the government had taken is in line certainly with our multi-agency approach to addressing crime, Assistant Commissioner Strachan has been attached to the Ministry of Social Services to serve certainly as an advisor to the minister on crime and safety matters as well as a chief security officer. Under that remit as you know, we have Simpson Penn and Willie Mae Pratt, we have Urban Renewal, we have any number of other entities under the ministry that requires significant support,” he said.

While Mr Dames did not confirm if the vacation leave of eight senior officers earlier this year was a part of the government’s move to re-organise the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s top heavy hierarchy, he did say that the government is taking recommendations from a police manpower audit tabled in the House of Assembly last May. “We would have done these audits for a reason, we have to come to a place where when we do the work, when we do the empirical study at the end of the day we need to look at those recommendations coming out of those studies and see what is important to apply to improve the level of efficiency and professionalism to ready these agencies for the future because at the end of the day, it is service to the Bahamian people,” said Mr Dames.

He added: “I see sometimes persons are sometimes taking it to a personal level and that I don’t want. Many of the people speak to and in these agencies I know personally and would consider them friends and so I want to be very responsible and I do my utmost to ensure that others are aware that we have a vested responsibility to ensure that as we carry out our duty we do it with the highest level of respect for the officers and their families and more importantly that our focus is always in the best interest of this nation and the Bahamian people.”

Mr Dames confirmed that not only the police force, but the defence force and the Department of Correctional Services will face changes.

“Now it’s our time to begin to build these agencies for the future. We tend to get afraid when we start talking about building agencies for the future focusing on training, focusing on education, focusing on career development and succession planning and that ought to be the focus in any agency; not only the uniformed agencies of this country, but also our public service. We have many young people coming back from school looking for jobs, wanting to now take all of the learning that they would have gone through and move into these departments and to show their capabilities and so we have a vested responsibility therefore to begin to prepare those persons for future leadership in this country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Munroe has said that the matter with his client and other senior police officers raises serious concerns about the independence of law enforcement agencies under the present administration.