The More Things Change . . .

Is there anyone in all of Saint Lucia who truly believes the politicians presently campaigning for office have the slightest idea of the enormity of the problems facing our nation at this time especially, let alone possible solutions? Does the average Saint Lucian have a clue about the daily cost of operating our two hospitals, our schools, our police force, our fire service and the Bordelais Correctional Facility? Forget about road repairs and the rest of it. Are we truly aware of what’s happening in the real world and the inevitable impact on our daily lives? Can we handle the truth?

The once wealthiest countries in the world can no longer afford the luxuries their citizens once took for granted. The great United States, the U.K., Germany— countries that to a large extent sustain us via tourism—are all confronted by unprecedented woes, with unemployment figures at record levels. More and more of their citizens are joining the homeless hordes. China is no exception.

So where will our tourism dollars spring from? Are we concerned? To judge by our local news reports—nearly all politically charged or disconnected from reality—not much has changed. We evidently believe we can chase away all worries with booze. We seem to believe every monster hyperbole in our tourist brochures—that Saint Lucia really is paradise and that God will continue to take care of us, in the same way he cares for the sparrows. As if indeed we were birds of the same feather. No reason to interrupt the carnival, let’s all party like rock stars.

Our campaigning politicians, if they have a true appreciation of what’s going on outside their respective poverty-stricken turfs, are in their selfish interests too busy fueling vote-catching fantasies to care. Why discuss problems for which they have no solutions? I recall a Labour Party press conference centered on the failure of government to contain crime, a failure that was blamed on the government’s refusal to finance a campaign suggested by John Broughton.

Now just in case the name Broughton no longer rings a bell, I offer a reminder. Back in 2005, with elections around the corner and Saint Lucia experiencing yet another “unprecedented rate of crime,” violent crime in particular, the Kenny Anthony government had imported from the UK a handful of retired police personnel to do for the nation what conceivably was beyond commissioner Ausbert Regis and his team. Whether or not Regis knew it at the time, a quiet official investigation had painted him in colors most disturbing. Saint Lucians would hear the shocking details only after the Stephenson King government took office in 2007, thanks to the notorious blabbermouth Keith Mondesir, of all people, the minister in charge of security. Mondesir it was who had blabbed about the secret investigation while being interviewed by the singular radio personality Sam Flood.

To hear Mondesir on the occasion, the Kenny Anthony administration had for the purposes of imminent elections kept the result of their investigation under wraps, despite the inevitable negative impact on the general population. What’s more, said Mondesir, he planned the day after his interview to send the commissioner on indefinite leave while Broughton replaced him. Pressed for an explanation by reporters, Mondesir’s predecessor Calixte George acknowledged the investigation that according to Mondesir had uncovered “information so damaging, that spoke of crime within the police force itself, including corruption, it had to be suppressed.”

By Calixte George’s account, there was nothing self-serving about his government’s decision not to act on the report. George revealed he had personally ordered the shredding of the 360-page document, on the basis that Regis was never afforded the opportunity to defend himself. “When I read the report,” said George, “I realized it wasn’t what I had in mind. Much of it was defamatory. There were serious allegations without supportive evidence. I ordered that all copies be shredded.”

Obviously, his orders had fallen on deaf ears. But I am ahead of myself. Less than three months after his November 2006 arrival in Saint Lucia, John Broughton had submitted to the new government an assessment of the police force as he found it. The report is dated 10 January 2007—barely a month after the new UWP administration took office under Sir John Compton. (Stephenson King succeeded him in September 2007.) Broughton’s report clearly illustrates why the investment of multi-millions of scarce dollars in local law enforcement has for decades been analogous with transporting water in a bottomless bucket to a family dying of thirst.

Among Broughton’s observations: “A general lack of understanding about the core role of the force. Information exchange weak, minutes not uniformly kept, individuals at all levels avoid ownership and accountability; management and supervision both intrusive and routine, at many levels weak. Officers at many levels reluctant to make decisions commensurate with rank. Indiscipline. The force moved from consultancy report to action plan, from strategy to policies—but with little actual effect on delivery.”

Additionally: No comprehensive, centrally managed database of the force’s human resources, skills profile, training requirements etc. The force had limited knowledge and understanding of its most valuable asset and an informed deployment strategy was all but impossible to achieve. Officers did not know their job descriptions; as many as a hundred officers performed roles not police specific. The force was not organized in such a way as to make best use of resources. The force lacked a basic professional central structure that identified best practice.

And this: “The Operation Policing Strategies were over-complicated and largely not complied with. While over half the force had been trained in the principles and application since 2002, only a handful of officers practiced any type of community policing. Police officers are issued uniform and shoes. In addition they are issued replacement uniforms upon authorized requisition. But a great proportion of officers routinely did not wear a uniform. Often they were scruffily attired and not identifiable as police officers. Police officers of all ranks spent considerable time in police stations, out of public gaze. Most officers report for duty with little idea what were the current issues and what were the day’s priorities. In some cases they were virtually undirected. Operational communication systems, practices and processes are poor.”

And this: Management of 999 calls was outdated an ineffective. Officer training was at best inconsistent and sporadic. The general police response to the armed or otherwise dangerous threat was either an unarmed or fully-armed response. There was no less than lethal response. There were many examples available to suggest that everything from the storage of police firearms through to training of officers and to ultimate use of firearms by many police officers was not of an acceptable standard. The force had no dedicated event or contingency planning capability and limited expertise in this area. The SSU was under-utilized. There was no force-wide, strategic or tactical direction in respect of developing intelligence to deal with crime, community and road safety issues; no identifiable senior officer with strategic responsibility for intelligence-led policing . . .

There’s more, but by now, dear reader, you get the point: for countless years good money has been thrown at a police force that was never in a position to deliver on public expectations. Who to blame? Well, Kenny Anthony in his last term as prime minister sought to blame the King administration. He conveniently ignored the fact that Broughton’s January 2007 report was based on the situation as had existed for nearly two decades under Anthony’s own administration. Instead, he blamed the King government for not having cured all the ills of the force between taking office in September 2007 and Broughton’s departure in October 2008. In other words, what Kenny Anthony did not do in nearly ten years he expected King to accomplish in one year— recession and all. Broughton did finally acknowledges improvements during King’s administration, but that is hardly the point.

What must concern this nation in perpetual distress is our unending blame game that always delivers the same losers: We the People. When will we learn that crime cannot successfully be fought by a country at war with itself? When will we learn that crime is an equal opportunity killer, with no regard for color, whether related to skin or politics? When will we learn that the police cannot function effectively without the undivided support of the community?

This article first appeared in the March 2021 edition of the STAR Monthly Review. Be sure to get your printed copy on newsstands or view it here: https://issuu.com/starbusinessweek/docs/star_monthly_review_-_march_2021