Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams left the country on Saturday and will be returning in two weeks on Sunday, June 5th. Reports say he's traveled to France. In his absence, Deputy Commissioner Dezerie Magdaleno will be acting in the post.
But before he left, we interviewed him last week Tuesday right after he had met with a few dozen regional officers at the Ladyville Community Centre. It's part of the Commissioner's ongoing countrywide tour of all formations - and we heard him telling them how the mode of testing for promotions would be changed from multiple choice to written answers. The commissioner says this will be a truer test of acquired knowledge:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"In the past we use to have promotion exams and they were more multiple choice driven. When we have multiple choices, it doesn't really test a person's job knowledge. A person can guess their way through and so now we have restructured the promotion exams and it is now knowledge based. It tests your actual knowledge of policing as opposed to having something that people can guess their way through."
Jules Vasquez
"Now the common criticism is that but it doesn't matter how you format the test, because you only promote your favourites or officers who have shown loyalty to you and that sort of thing - that you play favourites in the promotion process. That is the criticism."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The world through Jules Vasquez' eyes, Jules perspective (smiling). Jules, that is not true and if you are to interview police officers, they'll tell you. Promotions are done fairly. People who are promoted are those who go take the exam and go before the board and are successful and that's how we try to do promotion as transparent as we possibly can. As a matter of fact, there is a promotion board and the commissioner acts based on the advice of the promotion board, so I am guided by them and not basically guided by my own knowledge, no or who I like. It's not about that."
