Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NASSAU64
2009-02-02 19:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nassau
Cable title:  

POLICE RESTRUCTURING SIGNALS STRONG GCOB REFORM

Tags:  PGOV PHUM BF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBH #0064/01 0331938
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021938Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY NASSAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6080
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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).

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.

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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