Significant changes are on the horizon for law enforcement agencies, with the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Prison Service both expected to undergo major management restructuring before the end of the year.
Most notably, sources indicate that history could be made in the Police Service, as a female officer is in contention for the post of Commissioner of Police.
The top positions at the Police Service will soon be vacant, as Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce and Deputy Commissioner Ian Branch are both set to retire later this year. Former Deputy Commissioner Erwin Boyce, who was once tipped for the Commissioner of Police position, went on preretirement leave last year and has since offficially retired.
While Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley offered no comment on the pending vacancy, a memo circulated on February 26 from the Director General of Human Resources in the Ministry of the Public Service advertised the post. The application process closed on March 13.
Qualifications include successful training in management executive development at a recognised police college or academy; a degree; and successful completion of the Strategic Command Course.
Among the front-runners for the job are Acting Assistant Commissioners Barry Hunte and Sonia Boyce, who were both promoted last July following their graduation from the UK’s renowned College of Policing’s Executive Leaders programme.
If selected, Sonia Boyce, who has worked alongside former Commissioners Darwin Dottin and Tyrone Griffith as well as Richard Boyce, would become the first female Commissioner of Police in the island’s history.
Hunte oversees special operations and management services, while Boyce heads administration and human resources.
Simultaneously, the Barbados Prison Service is moving to fill a critical void in its leadership structure. Minister of Home Affairs Gregory Nicholls confirmed that consideration was being given to filling the post of deputy superintendent. While the post was created in 2024 – marking a first in the institution’s 167-year history – it has never been filled.
“I know that there’s consideration being given to the creation of the post of a deputy superintendent in the prison,” Nicholls said, while pointing out that such appointments fall under the purview of the Protective Services Commission.
“So I am not privy to that internal process… I don’t have all the information,” he told the Sunday Sun.
Superintendent DeCarlo Payne is assisted by two Assistant Superintendents, Major Ryan Smith, seconded from the Barbados Defence Force, and Vincent Alleyne. Reports suggest that a senior police officer is being considered for the Deputy Superintendent role, which will focus on administrative and human resources duties.
Following a recent tour of the penal institution at Dodds, St Philip, Nicholls emphasised the need to modernise the service, shifting the focus from incarceration to rehabilitation.
“We have to modernise the Prison Service into a correctional facility given the change in the nature of crimes,” Nicholls said.
“The Victorian thing of locking up people in a cell, a primary key as a punishment cannot work within the context of what we’re going to do . . . So those are things that I have to deal with.”
While the minister declined to divulge specific details citing national security, it was clear that both the Police and Prison Services are preparing for a new era of leadership. ( MB)
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