Trinidad and Tobago has made another landmark step by appointing our first female Commissioner of Police (CoP).

History was made last week too for another less edifying reason. Erla Harewood-Christopher became the first Police Service Commission nominee for CoP who in recent times has not been vilified in Parliament, although the Opposition did query the suitability of her experience and her closeness to retirement age. But the issues were not substantial enough to hinder a unanimous decision to appoint the acting CoP and former acting deputy CoP to the position.

Christopher was also spared the awful imputations heaped upon the head of our recently appointed first female president, Christine Kangaloo, who rose from the political ranks and therefore seemed to be fair game. Our new CoP might have expected some resistance and bad talk, since we are averaging two murders a day so far this year, but the public is so grateful for rare political harmony that they, too, are supporting her. The spiralling homicide rate presents a crisis. Let’s see if she can capitalise on our goodwill and that of politicians on both sides of the political divide to steer the country out of the criminal malaise we have worked ourselves into.

CoP Christopher has a lot of experience in human resource management, and sorting out one’s own house is always the best place to start, especially since our police service desperately needs to be licked into shape.

Several officers are currently before the courts, one of them for assaulting a lower-ranking officer. If he could exercise physical power over a colleague then who are we, the public? We know the police, in general, do not understand that it is their job to serve the people. They clearly believe that they have power over us in all situations. They forget that we pay their wages and that they exist because of the authority we give them through the administration of the law undertaken by those whose salaries are also paid by us, the people.

Commissioner Christopher needs to reinforce the simple fact that officers are not above the law. They should not break speed limits, park illegally while buying lunch, wrongfully use sirens to escape traffic jams, treat law-abiding individuals like criminals, beat people for no good reason, shoot to kill when maiming would suffice, and, worse, involve themselves in criminal activity.

Christopher knows all of this, but can she, will she, target those obvious areas for improvement that negatively affect public trust in and respect for the police? Will she improve the atrocious rate of detection and modernise police practice in stations? Can she improve the preparedness of her officers, earn their respect, and make them more accountable?

Bad policing produces a more violent society – the two are not unrelated, just as the cruel inefficiencies of our judicial system also contribute to the worsening state of crime.

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Breaking the glass ceiling is only part of the journey