Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre Monday welcomed Cruscita Descartes-Pelius as Police Commissioner, declaring that her tenure would pave the way for leadership training and a younger cadre of individuals at the helm of the force.
“She is there for one year, and after this year, the force is going to be under new, younger leadership,” Pierre told reporters.
The Prime Minister spoke on the margins of Monday’s Cabinet meeting.
“We have a corps of young officers who are very capable. But we needed some time so that they could get the necessary training – they would get the necessary experience,” he explained.
Pierre disclosed that Descartes-Pelius at the helm would enable a smooth transition into new leadership.
He told reporters he was pleased Descartes-Pelius had accepted the appointment as top cop.
She was reappointed Police Commissioner for one year, effective 1st September 2023.
Her previous appointment to the post was in October 2022, when she became Saint Lucia’s first female Police Commissioner.
“There was literally no succession planning,” Prime Minister Pierre, responsible for National Security, said regarding the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF).
“We needed that training, that period of transition,” Pierre said.
He told reporters that Ronald Phillip did a sterling job as acting Police Commissioner.
And Pierre stated that the proposed leadership training would be for all senior officers.
In addition, he indicated that his administration had written friendly governments regarding the training.
Headline photo: FLASHBACK – Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and then Acting Police Commissioner Cruscite Descartes-Pelius appear at a joint press briefing in October, 2022.
A retired commissioner returning for a limited time should not be an issue in and of itself. But this is an indication that the RSLPF needs to go through a process of change.
I will assume that both the Chas and PJP admins trust the experience and expertise of a retired commissioner to lead with their knowledge about the force’s operations, challenges, and intricacies.
However, her return may signal that the RSLPF might be experiencing a gap or deficiency in leadership skills among current officers. The retired commissioner can help bridge this gap by imparting their knowledge and experience. She also brings more credibility to the office, which may boost the morale of rank and file.
If her mandate is to prepare officers for future leadership positions through succession planning, I hope she is more successful than the last guy the UWP put in place from retirement with the same mandate.
I would love for St Lucia Times to arrange an interview with the commission and ask her questions about her theory of change and how she will lead the RSLP through change. Also, about the mentoring and leadership programs, will she design and implement.
Her role is a one-year return, which suggests a focused, project-based approach. So from the Prime Minister’s side, what are the key performance indicators you the Minister of Security will use to measure the success of her tenure?
The commissioner might have been brought back specifically to address the leadership pipeline issue rather than take on the full responsibilities of their previous role.
@Lucian Traveller, thanks for a very balanced and well thought out comment. I totally agree with your comment. It is also a refreshing read given some of the ill-informed and party coloured comments that are usually made here.
I just want to add that the process of change and leadership development take time and it would have been more useful to give Mrs. Descartes-Pelius a two-year contract with a very clear mandate apart from just the daily function of commissioner.
These are 2 intelligent comments, but I put nothing past these politicians. PJP realized that it would have been Political Suicide to bring in his godson there now, so he waiting to see if by next yr the allegations of sexual mis conduct are dealt with, swept under the rug somehow and his god son gets the post. An immigration officer can be the commissioner while preparing people to be commissioner when she has less than 2 years’ experience in the role.? Am not so easily fooled.
Any righteous mind citizen will agree that St. Lucia is seriously lacking quality, innovative, smart and adoptive leadership qualities. The island produces a few noble laureates and that was it all dead and gone. Now we have a few sportsmen/women. Being in the realm of an organization for many moons doesn’t translate to that effect that such individual is of leadership standard. Our political leaders are delusional, our magistracy system is discord, our security force is riddle with anti-governance, corruption and allegations, many government offices are scattered in all directions, too many square pegs in round hole system etc. How do we grow from this, we are in 2023 and yet our system operates as if there is nothing existed. When you do look at the formula, we should adopt the Chinese communist system where parties don’t divide and all work for one common goal. The Chinese system is what make them world’s superpower. I have no Quass about this individual and a transition but how dumb can government be to just select 1-5 police service men or women and send them to institution where they can learn or being schooled how to manage crime, resources, leadership, etc. and make pertinent continuous demand to beef up security. I kept saying our political structure is so deeply embedded that the present divided situation will never change unless we voters demand it regardless of which color we represent.
Enjoyed reading the above comments and I think two years would be much better