Link between internal distrust in leadership of BPS and crime: Bertie Hinds

A retired Deputy Commissioner of Police is attributing possible internal distrust in the leadership of the Barbados Police Service (BPS) to the current upsurge in violent crime here.

In a paper entitled Some Consequences of Political Manipulation of the Police Service, made available to Barbados TODAY on Saturday, Bertie Hinds indicated that his perspective is founded in the “seemingly unconventional” installation of new Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce.

The former University of the West Indies (UWI) Lecturer in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Police Studies identified some of the possible consequences of distrust in the leadership of the police service.

“The fallout is often low morale, low productivity, increased crime, early departure from the service, resistance to change, unwillingness to ‘play team,’ ‘truancy,’ and the precipitation of conflict, to mention a few,” the author of the book Policing A Dynamic Barbados argued.

“Typically then, a leader must be able to bind his followers in such a way that they feel comfortable, certain about decisions made, respected, and will be appropriately rewarded for their loyalty, commitment, dedication and support. Even in adverse situations that are not of their making, people look to their leader for solace. The typical leader is one who reaches out to the victim. He has to be mindful that the victim’s peers will be gauging his response,” reasoned Hinds, who is expected to publish his second book by January, entitled Criminal Justice And The Police: Some Contemporary Perspectives: A Handbook for The Constabulary and Its Publics.

“Trust is the most important attribute any leader must have in his leadership ‘tool kit’. Without this, the people he leads will resist supporting organisational mission, goals, and objectives. Any leader who is thrust into a leadership position by seemingly unconventional means will gain much distrust from many of those he ‘leads,'” declared the criminologist and former Deputy Director of the Regional Security System (RSS).

Hinds, founder and managing director of BAH Consulting said the counter-productivity of distrust can be enormous stating that the fast-tracking of Boyce from Assistant Superintendent to Commissioner in the space of four months was unprecedented in the history of the constabulary.

The former deputy commissioner whose company specialises in crime and security management, law enforcement, criminal justice, criminology, modern penal thought, and penal practice also questioned whether there was internal official support from outgoing commissioner Tyrone Griffith and how the Senior Deputy Commissioner Erwin Boyce could have been superseded by his namesake.

Hinds said a leader who has to navigate the array of possibilities earlier articulated must have great cause for concern.

“The mental and psychological journey through this myriad of potential obstacles will certainly detract from his abilities to strategically manage his organisation which is his prime undertaking,” the 2014 recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to the Police Service contended.

The retired Deputy Commissioner was also critical of the requirement to apply for the vacant posts of Commissioner of Police and other Gazetted Offices.

He explained that the selection of these officers is provided for in the Police Service Act CAP 167 as amended with the Assessment Centre programme being central to the process.

“This involves extended interviews, in-basket and out-basket operational and management issues that test the skills, knowledge, expertise, and methodologies the applicant brings to bear during these interviews. The rigour of the Assessment Centre proceedings separates the proverbial ‘wheat from the chaff.’ It puts in chronological order, the performance of all the applicants subjected to the test,” Hinds said.

“Given the nature of the Assessment Centre, therefore, there is no need for persons subjected to this test to have to apply for vacant posts in the service. The application for vacant posts requirement then opens up itself to internal and political manipulation,” the ex-Deputy top cop declared. (EJ)