KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Commissioner of Police Colin John has been approved for early retirement, becoming the first chief of police to leave his post early since Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party (ULP) came to office on March 28, 2001.
On Thursday, Gonsalves announced on local radio, ending weeks of speculations that the police chief wanted to quit.
While Gonsalves did not say when John would leave, it’s widely reported he would leave the organization on Friday.
The prime minister, who has constitutional powers to determine who becomes commissioner of police, said a new police chief would be in post by the end of the month.
Last month, after Searchlight newspaper broke the news that John had applied for earlier retirement and would leave the post within weeks, Gonsalves told a press conference that he could not deny or confirm this was the case.
He noted that John, 55, was qualified for early retirement but added that the Police Service Commission must approve this.
“Well, yesterday, the Police Service Commission informed me that he had asked for early retirement, and they had processed it,” Gonsalves said.
“Of course, I have to be involved in the mix. … I can tell you now that he requested early retirement, and the Police Service Commission has agreed to grant him his early retirement,” said Gonsalves, who, as minister of national security, has ministerial responsibility for the constabulary.
“I can talk about that now because the Police Service Commission contacted me. That’s the institution. And then, of course, the next thing is that the announcement will come sometime, certainly by the end of the month, when the institution again gets into work — that is to say, the Police Service Commission, the Prime Minister, and the Governor General — for the appointment of a commissioner or acting commissioner. Because that’s what the Constitution says.”
Gonsalves, also a lawyer, noted that the Constitution says that the governor general appoints a commissioner of police on the advice of the Police Service Commission.
“Anytime the occasion arises for the appointment of a commissioner or acting commissioner, and then before the Police Service Commission advises the governor general on the work, the Police Service Commission has to consult me.
“And if I signify my objection to the person they want to appoint as a commissioner or acting commissioner, they can’t advise the governor-general,” the prime minister said.
John has served in the constabulary for a total of 35 years, and this will mark his second retirement from the police force.
In 2010, John, then a station sergeant of police, retired after completing his Bar exams and was appointed a Crown Counsel 1 before being promoted to Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions in 2012.
He returned to the constabulary as deputy commissioner of police in 2016 before becoming acting commissioner in 2017 and commissioner one year later.
and then 