Minister Says Police Must Put Educated Officers to Better Use
Elodio Aragon Jr.
On hand for the induction of attorney Bart Jones was Minister of Police Elodio Aragon Junior. He spoke about the role of the police department and the relationship it shares with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, as it concerns the pursuit of legal action in criminal matters.
Elodio Aragon Jr., Minister of Home Affairs
“When it comes to education, especially when we have officers who are studying law or are getting their degree in law I think it goes a long way to build the institutional capacity of our department, especially when it comes to knowledge. I think a lot of these officers who are getting their degrees right now are officers who are long serving members of the department and I think it bodes well for the department because it improves our department. Now when you look at how we put these people to good use, their knowledge, their education, we have to sit down and look at how we will maximize their being part of the police department and that is something that we’ll be looking at because at the end of the day we want to utilize everything that we have within the police department to better improve upon and impact upon what we do on the streets of this country.”
Reporter
“Sir, speaking very specifically about it, we know that the police department’s relationship with the D.P.P.’s Office was, let’s say, broken when the famous Blackett memo went out about eighteen months ago and since then there has not been that organic relationship between the department and the D.P.P.’s Office we are told. Will the police still be seeking legal advice from the D.P.P. or is it envisaged that it will be doing it strictly in-house based on the legal acumen that it has within?”
Elodio Aragon Jr.
“Well, Jules I cannot really comment on what you said is a broken relationship, I mean, I wasn’t here for that and I don’t really know what the situation is in regards to that. What I can tell you is that if we are to move forward in terms of being better at what we do in prosecution, we have to have, the police department must have a good working relationship with the D.P.P.’s Office. It cannot work otherwise and as the Minister of Police I could tell you one thing, definitely we have to work together in all faucets, not only with the D.P.P.’s office but in every other area that we as a department must work with to ensure that we are able to present better cases to the court to deal with the public in all faucets and I do think that as the Minister of Police definitely we will be working closely with the D.P.P.’s Office.”
