Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams is expected to get a sixth extension from the Police Service Commission (PSC) as his six-month tenure comes to an end next month.
However, it is reported that there are concerns among the first division officers regarding the length of time it was taking to recruit and appoint a substantive Police Commissioner—more than two years.
One senior officer said yesterday it was demoralising that Williams had not yet been confirmed. He said it was also an insult to Williams who had been working to improve the Police Service.
It is understood that the tendering process for selection of a firm to conduct the recruitment was supposed to be done by State-owned National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd (Nipdec) acting on behalf of the Service Commissions Department. But this has been stalled.
International and regional companies seeking to be selected to conduct the hiring process would be examined on a range of criteria including approach and methodology, qualification and experience as a consulting firm and general background.
Local firms also have to submit statutory certificates.
After the process of selecting a firm is completed, that firm will then go through an additional time-consuming process of seeking applicants and selecting candidates to recommend to the PSC.
Williams is currently out of the country attending a conference in the Caribbean and could not be reached yesterday. His last six-month extension was granted at the end of January this year.
Williams has been acting since August 2012 following the resignations of Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs and former deputy commissioner Jack Ewatski.