Former Minister Says Police Officers ‘Too Political’ – St. Lucia Times News

Black Immigrant Daily News

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Former National Security Minister Hermangild Francis has spoken regarding politics in the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF).

“The advice I would give the police officers presently is to take the politics out of the police force. They are too political. There are police officers there that when you listen to them speaking, they are even more au courant with the politics than the politicians,” Francis declared.

He spoke during an appearance on Wednesday’s edition of Good Morning Saint Lucia on Hot 7 Television.

The former Deputy Police Commissioner told programme Host Shannon Lebourne that some of the senior officers influence some youngsters.

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“When I was a police officer of course, I knew where I was voting. Of course, I knew where I was voting. I voted, but when it came to my job I was brutal. Whether you were UWP or Labour I would do what I had to do,” Francis stated.

He described it as ‘ a lot of hogwash’ claims that politicians are interfering with the RSLPF.

Francis said if an officer allows that to happen, that individual should not be in the force.

“If the Commissioner allows a Minister to call him and tell him to withdraw a charge against a particular person and he does it, then he does not deserve to be Commissioner of Police,” Francis asserted.

“You cannot interfere with the police force. It has to be a hands-off situation,” the former Minister noted.

Francis said people associate some officers with the United Workers Party (UWP).

“I can give you one example. People talk about the Deputy Commissioner and they said that he is a United Workers Party person and when you look at everything else that has happened, that is not so. They guy did his job,” he explained.

“He was the one who was sent to Bordelais and when he was sent to Bordelais at a higher rank, it was not the United Workers Party that sent him there. It was the Saint Lucia Labour Party that sent him there and then he came back to the police force at a higher rank, applied, went through the process of the Public Service Commission – he was the best at the interviews and became the Deputy Commissioner. But because he stopped a politician and another person who is associated with a party, he becomes political and that is the mistake we make,” the former Minister said

“Allow police officers to do their work. They will do what they are supposed to do,” Francis observed.

Headline photo: Hermangild Francis (Stock image)

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