The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

POLICE Staff Association (PSA) Chairman Inspector Dwight Smith on Friday heralded Prime Minister Perry Christie's announcement that officers will be paid for working 12-hour shifts in 2013 and 2014, saying that officers now feel "valued" for their efforts four years ago.

Insp Smith, in an interview with The Tribune following Mr Christie's announcement at a Progressive Liberal Party rally on Thursday night, said officers are "happy" and "satisfied" that they will finally be paid their court-ordered overtime pay, which he said puts to rest all of the "speculation" and uncertainty surrounding whether those officers would ever be compensated. 

Insp Smith told The Tribune that the next step would be to arrange a meeting with National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage to discuss the particulars of the overtime payment, such as how much should be paid to each officer for the hours worked, respective of rank, to ensure that the government doesn't "just throw something to us".  

Insp Smith also said that in light of Mr Christie's announcement, the association will withdraw its filed motion for the government to give immediate attention to paying the officers, which as of Thursday was still awaiting a date from the Office of the Attorney General. 

"Because of the public announcement we won't have to go through that," he said. 

At R M Bailey Park on Thursday night, Mr Christie announced that the government will finally pay Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers for working the controversial 12-hour shifts, with the first payment of the outstanding sum to be issued on May 29. 

Mr Christie said the second installment in overtime pay would come "in the next budget cycle", but was not more specific. He said officers who have died or retired will be paid in full. 

Mr Christie said that in reviewing the government's options, it "became apparent that issuing days off in lieu of pay would create a significant challenge in meeting our policing objectives".

Hours prior to that announcement, Insp Smith had accused the Christie administration of "killing the morale" of police officers as he lambasted the government for not consulting with the PSA over the association's proposal to save the government 40 per cent in overtime pay owed to officers who had worked the 12-hour shifts. 

Insp Smith said the government had yet to consult with the PSA for a potential agreement on its proposal to be compensated at a set rate of $15.75 per hour, as opposed to the standard hourly/daily rate owed to each officer, respective of rank, for working the longer shifts. 

When contacted on Friday, Insp Smith said he and other officers are "happy" the government announced its intention to pay the officers, although he added: "I don't think that we needed to wait all of this time to actually say that." 

"Well, officers were happy about it from when we got the court (ruling)," he said, referring to the Court of Appeal's upholding of a landmark Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to compensate police officers for working the 12-hour shifts. 

"The only thing of value for officers is that when people look at them and appreciate the work that they have done," he continued. "Other than that, what the job pays does not really dictate (anything) for persons who would give up their lives for the country. 

"The only two main things that we had was either promotions or salary increases or our health insurance. So I think a lot of officers feel that now they're valued, they belong now in this life that we call workers and for human beings. Now we're actually seeing the Constitution, at least the preamble of the Constitution, living through that decision through the courts." 

He added: "We shouldn't force labour on persons, at least without pay. And if you notice back in 2013, that was way more than forcing, because that was 13 weeks. So I think a lot of our officers are satisfied that we got that; at least we feel that we got some recognition. So now we're happy that someone is saying we're going to be compensated, even though the court had already ruled on that."

Nonetheless, Insp Smith said the focus would now be on ironing out the particulars surrounding the payment method and the amounts to be paid, which he said is still a concern amongst various ranks of the RBPF. 

"We want to see now because officers are saying 'okay, so what you paying us?'," he said. "We don't want you to treat us 'like dogs'. Don't just throw something to us. If you're going to pay us pay us for what we're worth and what we're worth in terms of what you're giving us now and for the overtime, in terms of what we make per hour or whatever general rates that we're going to use. 

"And so that's the question that for me, as the association chairman that I am being asked from all of the police officers, from all various ranks. And I cannot answer it because I did not actually sit with the government as yet to see what is it that they're actually offering."

Last May, the Court of Appeal upheld Supreme Court Justice Milton Evans' ruling that a Force Order issued by former Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson in 2003 was relevant to the case as it mandated that public officers be paid when they work for more than 40 hours in a normal working week. 

At the time, the PSA had estimated that if the choice is made to pay the officers, the government would end up paying as much as $16.4m in overtime pay. However, attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, who represents the PSA, said at the time that Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade would determine whether to pay officers or to give them a proportionate amount of time off. 

The Supreme Court ordered that the compensation be received within a year.  

Last year, The Tribune reported that Commissioner Greenslade had decided to give time off to the hundreds of active police officers who worked the 12-hour shifts and to give financial compensation to officers who worked overtime during that period but have since retired. 

Prior to that, Commissioner Greenslade had said that the issue of compensation for overtime was "moot". 

However, the PSA subsequently said it was not ready to accept the Commissioner's decision, as there was still uncertainty over how many days off would be given to police officers as compensation for the hours worked. 

At the time, Insp Smith, who had previously expressed a preference for having a financial compensation made to all officers, maintained that it "would've been cheaper to give money to everybody."