Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Phillip Davis charged Wednesday night that National Security Minister Marvin Dames abused his power in promoting a Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) inspector to assistant superintendent earlier this year.
The promotion, Davis said, is retroactive from October 2014.
Davis showed off the order at a public meeting held at the party’s headquarters last night, alleging that the officer in question was also responsible for the recent 2018 Manpower Audit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force tabled in Parliament
“Dames has made sure his people gets straight! With back pay and benefits for four years,” Davis told a rousing crowd at the PLP’s headquarters last night, suggesting the promotion was pay for his completing the audit.
The move, Davis said, spoke directly to what the report criticized – the process of promotions.
“It ( the audit) suggested the force was too top heavy, and presented changes in the way the organization would operate,” said Davis.
“While that same Manpower Audit, which said how the force was too top heavy, was criticizing police work in the field, Dames now promotes his own up the chain of command. What conflict! What abuse of power!”
The Opposition leader added that during the tabling of that report, Dames said the audit would end the need for prescribed promotion dates determined by politicians, adding that whenever there is availability, then there will be an opportunity for promotion.
Eyewitness News attempted to reach Dames on the matter, but calls were not returned up to the time this article was published.
Police Staff Association (PSA) President Sonny Miller however, clarified that the officer in question was promoted to acting assistant superintendent from 2014, but was simply overlooked and never confirmed to the post.
Miller explained that the “acting” post traditionally lasts for a year before confirmation, which he said, in this case, never happened.
The force order, he said, was simply doing right a wrong on the officer in question.
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