POLICE RESTRUCTURING SIGNALS STRONG GCOB REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L NASSAU 000064 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM BF SUBJECT: POLICE RESTRUCTURING SIGNALS STRONG GCOB REFORM COMMITMENT REF: 08 NASSAU 863 Classified By: Charge Zuniga-Brown for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The GCOB carried out a consolidation of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) hierarchy January 11, retaining the Acting Police Commissioner while promoting two up-and-coming yet rival officers to the next most responsible positions. At least 15 high-ranking policemen, including the Deputy Commissioner, were retired. The GCOB described the restructuring as streamlining and modernizing the force. Top appointments were made along non-political lines, despite a web of personal and professional rivalries, in a sign of the GCOB's continuing commitment to improved policing and public sector reform. The outcome should contribute to the country,s stability in the face of rising violent crime and trans-national drug and migrant threats, and bodes well for the future of already strong U.S.-Bahamian law enforcement partnerships. END SUMMARY. -------------- IN WITH THE NEW, OUT WITH THE OLD -- AGAIN -------------- ¶2. (C) The GCOB named Ellison Greenslade Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) and Marvin Dames Senior Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Grand Bahama Island, which covers The Bahamas' second most populous city, Freeport. The GCOB also named four other assistant commissioners with specific geographic responsibility and functional duties, while relieving four assistant commissioners and the Acting Deputy Commissioner of their posts. At least ten other officials accepted generous retirement packages, with several others nearing retirement reportedly interested in taking advantage of the same advantageous terms. The GCOB said the changes were in keeping with the recommendations of a strategic review conducted under the previous FNM administration, some aspects of which were ignored by the PLP, including the call for a leaner RBPF leadership structure. Further changes in the police ranks are therefore anticipated. This is the second major leadership house-cleaning in a law enforcement agency since the government re-shuffle in July 2008, following a similar changing of the guard in the immigration department (reftel). According to press reports, reform of the customs administration to improve efficiency and tackle corruption is now in the GCOB sights. -------------- YOUNGBLOODS RETURN FORCES GCOB HAND -------------- ¶3. (C) The return of Greenslade and Dames from a year of training in Canada provided the immediate occasion for the RBPF restructuring, against the background of a long term goal of modernizing the police force and improving its operations based on the previous strategic review. Both men were tabbed after the May 2007 elections as potential candidates for the post of police commissioner, but talk of leadership succession was put on hold when they were sent abroad for training. The GCOB instead appointed trusted veteran, Reginald Ferguson, as Acting Commissioner to replace the previous commissioner who went on leave in November 2007 followed by retirement in January 2008. By sending Greenslade and Dames abroad, the new GCOB avoided a potentially divisive succession struggle while developing the leadership capacity of two young, up-and-coming officers, in line with its drive to modernize the force. It also avoided an untimely squabble with the new Acting Commissioner, who desired a free hand in making top appointments and made no secret of his preference for Dames over Greenslade. -------------- POLICE CHIEF EXPLAINS RIVALRIES, GOALS ... -------------- ¶4. (C) In conversations with RSO and LegAtt, Acting Commissioner Ferguson explained that he had recommended to the Prime Minister, as early as November 2007 that all RBPF assistant commissioners, including Greenslade, be replaced. Ferguson told RSO and LegAtt that at that time he flatly refused to work with Greenslade at the time, admitting that he had caused Greenslade to be sent to Canada for training. Ferguson bluntly stated that he does not favor Greenslade to become the next police commissioner, and said he wished to retain only Dames, whom he clearly favors as a future successor. Ferguson tried to block Greenslade again in 2008 but was overruled again by PM Ingraham. COMMENT: The Acting Commissioner is apparently against Greenslade for supporting an attempt late in the previous PLP administration to sideline Ferguson through a dead-end appointment to a position at the Police College. Ferguson's career prospects improved, however, after the FNM won the May 2007 elections (Ferguson,s brother, Johnley, is a high-ranking FNM party official). Coincidentally, Greenslade'S public standing was undermined by his accepting expensive gifts upon his departure from his post on Grand Bahama in June 2007. The notoriously upright Ferguson may also hold this against the otherwise qualified Greenslade. END COMMENT. -------------- ... BUT STICKS TO HIS GUNS -------------- ¶5. (C) Ferguson hoped to remain as Acting Commissioner for a several years longer, which would also help him see his favorite, Dames, succeed him. He appeared resigned that it was politically impossible for Greenslade to be removed now. Ferguson said the reason he was not officially named commissioner while serving for over a year was his refusals to back down from his view that all RBPF assistant commissioners serving when the FNM took office, with the exception of Dames, should be dismissed. He added that he doubted that Greenslade would be equally resistant to political pressure. In the end, the GCOB appears to have implemented one of the compromise outcomes floated by Ferguson (including to RSO and LegAtt): retaining the current police chief but positioning two possible successors in the next most responsible positions, giving both the opportunity to earn the trust of the force and the public before any successor is named. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) Neither the current restructuring nor a future change in police leadership in favor of either Greenslade or Dames would be inimical to continuing strong U.S.-Bahamian law enforcement relations. Quite the contrary, the Minister of National Security appears to have made the recent changes and top appointments along non-partisan lines, in a sign of the GCOB's continuing commitment to professionalism and reform in the police and the public sector as a whole. How the set-up will work in practice remains to be seen, however, given the personal and professional tensions. Both Greenslade and Dames are regarded as forward-looking and capable officers with the potential to assume overall command of the police force in the future, despite differing personal styles. Greenslade may have the edge in practical experience and rank-and-file support, having risen through the police ranks, as well as public support due to his success in Grand Bahama during a time when hurricanes ravaged the island. For his part, Ferguson is a respected, no-nonsense official who puts a premium on integrity and often speaks out against corruption, accusations of which do not taint him but may stick to others under his command. He also has a good relationship and solid track record of professional cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies. The outcome shows the GCOB's commitment to ensure an efficient and effective police force which contributes to the country's stability, in the face of violent crime and trans-national drug and migrant threats, as well as our important bilateral law enforcement partnerships. ZUNIGA-BROWN