Philipsburg: ---- The Police Union met over the weekend as well as all day yesterday in several meetings to further discuss the WIN WIN Agreement which states that the police coach Ronal Dongor will become the next Korps Chef in case Assistant Chief Commissioner of Police Richard Panneflek is not on island. During these meetings the performance of Dongor will be evaluated as stated in the Agreement which was signed by the unions and the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles.Some of the concerns for the union are that the local police force will have to go through some overhauling since commissioner of police Ademar Doran is also scheduled to go off island to further his education.
Just recently the Minister of Justice David Dick made an announcement that Panneflek is looking to leave the police force to open a security company locally. If that happens then Dongor will be the one to take over the top position, something that is not sitting well with the local police force. If both police commissioners leave the force this would create some severe problems for the island as there would be a vacuum to fill. Due to these developments all Chief Inspectors participated in a training course over the weekend in Maho. The idea is to get these senior cops ready to take over the police force and for them to be able to work as a team a well placed sources told this media house.
In an invited comment Panneflek said he is not denying the statement that was made by the Minister but he would not give details as to what decision he has taken and why. "When there is something to say about this matter I will say it". The top cop said for now he would not be commenting further.
Sources close to Panneflek said that the Minister was trying to put him away when he sent him to Holland claiming that he was leaving to further his studies. "The Minister was trying to trick Panneflek just to get him out of the way for the Dutch to take over."
While there are discussions taking place to see what can be done in the matter it is understood that Panneflek is not getting anywhere in moving the police force forward since the Minister is not giving St. Maarten what it needs when it comes to human resources and finances. The Police Force is lacking men in blue as well as vital materials to execute its duties. Due to the fact these materials are not forthcoming crime is rising at a fast pace and officers are now overworked all of which concerns the union.
"The Minister is purposely doing this because he wants to blame Panneflek if and when the police force fails. Panneflek is a smart man and he realized he would be blamed so with the assistance of a certain commissioner he would leave the force to open a company which would aim at providing proper security since the police force cannot guarantee safety and security.