Country's First Female Commissioner of Police Removed Amid Investigation: Details Revealed

The country’s first female Commissioner of Police, Erla Harewood-Christopher, has been removed.

The day after she was arrested, the Police Service Commission (PSC) dismissed Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher and wrote to President Christine Kangaloo to appoint Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Junior Benjamin as her replacement.

In a letter to Kangaloo, which she received on January 31, the PolSC said that it directed Harewood-Christopher to “cease to report for duty and cease to discharge the duties of Commissioner of Police.”

At the time, Harewood-Christopher was arrested and detained at the St Clair Police Station for questioning over the granting of an import licence to secure military-grade equipment for the Security Services Agency (SSA).

The PolSC, which is chaired by criminologist Dr Wendell Wallace, said its decision was as a result of the ongoing investigation into misbehaviour in public office.

In its letter, it recommended that Benjamin be appointed to act as Commissioner of Police and Curt Simon be appointed acting Deputy Commissioner of Police in his stead.

Benjamin is at the top of the PolSC’s order merit list for senior police officers eligible to act as commissioner.

The day the letter reached the President, she wrote to Parliament informing them of the matter to be debated. In a notice posted last night, Parliament announced that the two notifications—Benjamin and Simon—will be debated on Wednesday, February 5.

However, the day after the notice was sent, Saturday, Harewood-Christopher was released without charges.

According to a press release by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, the investigations into her and former director of the SSA Roger Best remain ongoing.

At the St Clair Police Station, minutes after her release on Saturday, the question was put to Harewood-Christopher’s lawyer Pamela Elder SC on whether she would resume duties as COP.

“That will have to be discussed. We have to put pen to paper,” Elder told the media.

At that time, Elder would have been aware of the PolSC’s notice to her client.

According to Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police 1175 ((Selection Process) (No. 2) Order 2021 under the constitution, “Where–(a) the Commissioner of Police is or is likely to be– (i) absent from Trinidad and Tobago; (ii) on vacation leave; or (iii) unable by reason of illness or any other reason to perform the functions of the Commissioner of Police; or (b) the office of the Commissioner of Police is or is likely to become vacant, the Commission shall select the most senior officer on the Order of Merit List and submit that officer’s name to the President in accordance with the procedure set out in section 123 of the Constitution.”