Members serving on the Police and Public Service Commissions are expected to earn better pay after Parliament approved this week an increase in their monthly allowances.
The new perks would be backdated to November 1st, 2011.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told the House of Parliament this week that the increase in remuneration for the members is justified.
“This amendment is a very simple thing. These commissioners, they provide excellent service to the country, there is a continued demand on them and therefore there is need to increase the remuneration provided to them,” he noted.
Meantime Prime Minister Skerrit said the recruitment process for new police officers continue to be stringent so as to ensure that the people of the highest integrity are brought into the police service.
“Somebody may have the academic qualifications but in the investigation, the background check Madame Speaker, there may be something which the police may have picked up that you and I do not know about, so yes the person might be looking well shaved, have the O’levels required, dresses properly, but the person may have an issue that the police may have picked up,” the Prime Minister said, adding that it’s not simply because someone applies and has four or five O’ levels, that this person has to automatically has to become a recruit.
The Prime Minister indicated further that in recent time the Government has sought to encourage upward mobility of officers within the public and police service by creating close to two hundred new positions.
“What we have done and what we have sought to do within the public and police service is to create more positions. For example, you would have had teachers teaching for five and ten years and cannot get appointed. What we have done Madame Speaker, to address this problem is to increase the number of teaching positions by over a hundred positions to get people appointed.”
“In the field of nursing it’s the same thing,” he said. What we have done, is to create ninety new positions in the nursing service to allow people to get appointed. What we have done and we continue to do in the police service is create new positions. We have created 30 positions of corporal because there were people who have been there for 25 years, 30 years and never had a strike Madame Speaker and we sought to address this issue by creating more corporal positions.”
The Prime Minister also informed the House of Parliament that plans are afoot to implement an exam for Police Corporals wishing to be elevated to the rank of Sergeant.
“What we are seeking to do Madame Speaker, to address any semblance of the non-existence of fairness or bias in any situation is to now have exams, so a corporal who has to get to sergeant position must sit an exam, to allow one to get another position so that you qualify yourself fully. It’s not about how many years you are working somewhere but it also has to do with one’s performance,” he stressed.
In recent times the Government of Dominica has taken on a number of measures geared at improving the work conditions of police officers.
I cannot believe in this day an age we are still having an argument about who have education and who drop out of high school and which makes better policemen
first of all the PM is again using his psych tricks to pull who he wants. He is stateing not because you have GCE you will be selacted you may have something blaa blaa blaa. Why be so vague? Is it because there is no set standard and it depends on your approval Mr. P. As far as i am concerned there should be a set criteria and in todays age having cxc subjects should be one of them. There should be other standards such as, have you ever committed or got convicted for a crime, have you ever assulted anyone (including domestic violence), have you ever been addmitted to a mental institution, or attempted suicide. A psychological assessment should also be conducted. I could go on but i think you all get the point.
I believe all men are created with different mental and physical capabilities which are both important. It is easy to judge a mans’ physical strength. The main way to observe his mental capacity is through his level of education.
Policing is not always about being rough and tough and scaring people. Any man trained to use a gun is dangerous. How are we going to keep up with the crooks who know the law better than you.
Bottom line is to fight crime today you need inteligent people and dropping out of school is not a sign of intelligence.
Take a look at the US millitary or any law enforcment agency and show me where you will see a high ranking officer without a degree. Without a degree your highest rank you will ever be is a sarge in the US millitary.
we will remain light years behind if we still debating the need to have educated people in our profession.
Mr. PM..
Please stop buying votes with the tax payers money. Your “moonock” in the upper ranks seem to have told you the truth that by and large the officers are no longer loyal to you but rather the Comm. of Dominica. Interesting!!!
It would serve you better to stay out of the affairs of the force since i is a disciplined organization and should NOT be aligned to any political leader and his cronies. The officers will take the money but rest assured their votes are going somewhere else where integrity in office and non interference in the affairs of the force by politicians will once again reign supreme. Be mindful that Change Must Come.
Assertive, NOT Agressive!
what about the hurting rest of us?
Sounds good to the ears, but my eyes see politrics going on, because this is part of the campaigning. Its just a clever way by using tax payers money to do their campaigning.
Campaign? you saw who getting the increase nuh
The problem that lies with this organization is that the need t create a rank for those who have the years of service but not the qualification. There was once upon a time a Lance Corporal rank they need to bring that back so it distinguishes these men from recruits and Constables, therefore when the time come to make your corporals there are less complications and round of the number of positions created to a number ending with a zero but do that only for the lower ranks.
The commissioners deserve a raise, yes but its time that the government implement the recomendations in the job classification report. Public officers need a more equiatble income.
Hope this is not a psycological ploy/step to soften the commisioners loyalty, to the politician wish to appoint cronnies. Favoriotism and nepotism is wrong Mr. PM, let the system work.
As a public officer i welcome the increase it’s longgggg over due I taking everything and I will still vote u and your corrupt ministers out of office as your saying to us Go To Hell
Whoever you are, I dont think you are a Policeman and talking that crap. If you have a problem just declare yourself and resign okay but do not bite the hand that feed you. There are some who can use bread you eating.If you against the PM get out
@Truth Seeker: What exactly is your point re” don’t bite the hand that feed you”? Are you saying it is skerrit who feeds him/her? This is a most idiotic statement because if skerrit is to be voted out, wouldn’t he/her be a police officer still? Or would skerrit fire him/her before he vacates office? You supporters make comments that are so laughable which speaks volumes of how you rationalize and discuss important issues and make decisions. Oh and why can’t he/her be against skerrit? I guess in skerrit’s world he/she doesn’t have the right to have a difference of opinion and have to always bow to “massa” like you do. This is exactly why this country is the way it is. Well in the real world that I live in, people can be against whoever they so choose, just like I suppose you are against the other side which is also your right. You cannot be against whosoever you choose and have a problem when someone else exercises that same right. I quote and old saying that goes “It is better to be thought of as a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt” I hope you have at least an iota of mental capacity to understand and appreciate the message in quotes.
Mr. PM do u know there are dominicans serving in Antigua, Montserrat, the BVI that only made it to 2nd and 3 form in high school and they are the ones performing there duties remarkably, from 95 to 97 i applied on numerous occasion being a high school drop out and unemployed, after i saw some of my school mate who also drop out become policemen only to receive a response that my application will no longer be considered because of the numerous times i had apply by then commissioner Darroux, in 98 i went to antigua did the police exam and came out 2nd in 61 applicants. so this o’level passes is just books smart but where is the common sense, the street smart as they say it, today we still live by a who we know mentality and i don’t think it will go away n e time soon, Look at Adam Sanford a Community high school drop out, did remarkably well for antigua both as a cricket and a police officer, today everybody is looking at that piece of paper from cxc and not character, there are a lot of young men and women who have 2 or 3 o’level passes with good character, give these young people a job,
Good Initiative Prime Minister Skeritt. Way to go!
The more things change the more it stays the same. Many, many, moons ago we did the same thing I sat the test and others did and performed well but was over looked for various reasons????? up to this day we are still awaiting promotions and nothing has changed and it will not change that’s the away it is. Say it isn’t so? thru it all I was happy to served and proud of the benefits derived as a trained officer always mindful that promotion does not come from the North,South, East, or West. Some of my fellow officers are still mindful of that fact. We call that professionalism!!!! Wake me up if and when things changed in my beloved country. I remain a Proud Dominican! Are YOU????
I ear you Bro…but Change Must Come and that will be soon.
Assertive, NOT Agressive!
Last month I commented on DNO that Skeritt is going to do the impossible to remain in office. The man is desperate. I commented that we will be promised the building of the hospital, the commencement of Geothermal power in Dominica, the purchases of two boats and free land to the people of PromiseVille in Portsmouth. Once again, I am going to predict the renovation of the main Port in Fond Cole, a new jetty in Soufriere. Skeritt has come to the realization that he is going to loose the next General Elections, therefore, Mr. Linton and the UWP Government better be ready for an empty treasury and a country in debt. By the way, didn’t Skeritt tell the Public Servants that the country was broke, therefore he couldn’t give them an increase salary of five percent.
Honorable Prime Minister, I support you in having the Police Officers do an exam in an effort to have them promoted… Because Lord have mercy, there are a LOT of them in positions that got there because of POLITICS…
But I am only hope that these exams will have no BIAS..
Trust me two things we might see is deserving people get their dues. All that talk of doing things fairly is just talk. Been there felt it first hand. No hard feelings.” As we always say in the force. They will crook You.” Regardless! It looks like MR “B” signature is all over this recycle idea, is he contemplating a come back as Commissioner????? Only time will tell.