EDITORIAL | Wrong timing to transfer DSP Manderson

However, the announced transfer of DSP Damion Manderson, the commander in charge at Old Harbour police, will be interpreted by Jamaicans, particularly those from the community, as one fraught with political interference.

DSP Manderson: Old Harbour’s police chief reassigned

Tens of thousands of Jamaicans would have witnessed, what was caught on camera, the verbal chastisement dished out by Member of Parliament Everald Warmington at DSP Manderson during that incident down in Old Harbour Bay.

Nothing more has been said by both men about what really transpired on Labour Day, but in the immediate aftermath the talk everywhere was that DSP Manderson’s days are numbered as far as him remaining in charge of this subdivision of St Catherine South.

Mr. Warmington did not ‘put him mout a grung and taak’ as we would say in Jamaican parlance during his rant while speaking on his phone to whom it is believed to be National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang. In that telephone conversation Mr Warmington said he felt disrespected by the actions of DSP Manderson and that it wasn’t the first time that the chief of police for the area demonstrated contempt towards him, the people’s elected official of the constituency since 2002.

Alas, like in the days of old the prophecy is now fulfilled six weeks later with Mr Manderson redeployed to the St Andrew South Police Division. Within the political circles of the government and the JCF it is not anticipated that they will deviate from the logical perspective that transfers are quite the norm. However perception is often viewed as greater than reality, hence the timing of DSP Manderson’s transfer is ill-advised in our opinion. Quite often our elected officials, not least among them prime ministers past and present, are quick to recluse themselves of any perceived notion of interference while the police execute their functions within the ambit of the law.

Sure DSP Manderson did not break the law during that final encounter with the powerful and influential MP. Was his tenure in Old Harbour that terrible? Certainly not!  Why the hurry then?

Police commanders in charge of Old Harbour usually stay on average anywhere between 24-36 months before moving on to the next frontier – another strong point that the JCF will raise in defence, while pointing to the fact that Mr Manderson is one of the young bright prospects within the force, hence his reassignment was inevitable to gain greater experience.

What Mr Warmington and even the Andrew Holness government may never able to change, though, is the perception that they so desperately crave in trying to convince the population that no one is above the law.

Our elected officials like to paint the picture that they are mere policymakers with a habit of non-interference in administrative operations. But the transfer of DSP Manderson will only obfuscate such a view, given its timing.

Delaying the transfer of Mr Manderson to say the end of this year or early next year would have removed any thought of political meddling as by then that now infamous Labour Day clash with Mr Warmington would be a sidenote rather than a major talking point that won’t go away anytime soon.