Opposition’s Appointed Member Hon. Alvin Garland is batting for a select committee or parliament being formed to oversee the operation of the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force (RTCIPF).
In a news conference last week, Garland argued that since there was no body to oversee the operation of the force, lawmakers go by what the police hierarchy tell them, which he insinuated could be misleading.
“The position that has been taken by myself and by extension the opposition, is that we believe that the committees of the House need to exercise more scrutiny over the government and by extension the police force,” Garland told the news conference.
He believes that in order for members of parliament to be more accountable to the populace, they should have greater access to the machinations of government-run entities, including the police force.
“I believe that in order for us to fulfil our obligations, to the public, and to the electorate, elected members of the House of Assembly and appointed members, we need to have access, and we need to have the ability to oversee the intricacies of the police department,” Garland insisted.
He added: “I believe that if we can have a select committee appointed to oversee the daily operations and to review the police force as to the ongoing crimes that are taking place in the country, we would have a better understanding and can put forward a better view of our findings to the public, and to the electorate.
“And until that can happen, the elected officials of this country, and the appointed members of the House of Assembly, we have to rely on what’s being told to us by the government and the police force,” he bemoaned, stating that it was high time that lawmakers are empowered with the tools to scrutinize the workings of the police force, so they would be better able to craft solutions for crime.
“Until the legislature is empowered with the ability to scrutinize the police force, we will be at this point of stalemate, whereby we cannot properly address the ongoing situation with crime in the country,” he said.