THE triumphant announcement of a brand new Commissioner of Police for Gibraltar after an exhaustive choice course of has been darkened by the return of the McGrail inquiry this week.
Commander Owain Ceri Richards will take the recent seat from the retiring Richard Ullger in July with a frightening in-tray of challenges to beat.
The choice to rent an outsider appears to have been met with approval from all sides, with the Chief Minister having expressed a choice for hiring an exterior commissioner.
The primary non-Gibraltarian to run the put up since 1997, he’ll arrive with 30 years of policing expertise underneath his belt – together with working with small communities in his native Wales and tackling avenue crime with the Metropolitan Police in London.
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However the Welshman shall be following a prickly path that noticed each earlier CoP Ian McGrail pressured to retire early in 2020 and incumbent Ullger face allegations of impropriety – of which he was cleared.
The ghost of McGrail and the tip his profession met by the hands of the infamous Operation Delhi shall be hanging over Richards from the second he takes the reins on July 1.
With the McGrail inquiry reconvening and a bunch of barristers flying into the Rock this week to duke it out within the Garrison Library over the previous police commissioner’s early retirement, it underlines how policing in Gibraltar will not be at all times a matter of patrolling the streets.
“Does his expertise make him of the calibre required for policing a spot like Gibraltar?” one senior determine on the Rock requested.
“Is he going to have a look at what occurred previously? You might want to take a look at the previous as a result of in any other case the identical issues can occur once more.
“So the query is, is he going to know the nettle and take a look at what occurred to the police within the final 5 years?
“Possibly he’s going to be naive and attempt to keep away from hassle, which is truthful sufficient.
“However I believe he ought to grasp the nettle.”
One particular person with data of the recruitment course of assured the Olive Press that Richards is well-equipped to ‘swim with Gibraltar’s sharks’ and has loads of expertise past street-level crime.
Of 5 – 6 candidates who have been into account, Richards was ‘clearly the standout entrance runner from the beginning’ as somebody who had ‘managed to navigate the Metropolitan police efficiently – which has not been with out its personal issues.’
“This can be a extremely profitable officer who has expertise of not simply monetary crime, but in addition innovative policing in cyber crime and financial fraud,” the supply mentioned.
“Richards will depend on his group who actually have data of the native panorama to navigate Gibraltar.
“He has the abilities and the temperament. He’s greater than geared up to do the job.”
The brand new police chief’s speedy challenges will prolong far past eyeballing the difficulties and pitfalls of his predecessors.
The RGP workforce of roughly 250 officers has been decimated by virtually 25% attrition since 2020, in line with testimony from the McGrail inquiry.
A mixture of retirements – some early – and officers taking on positions in authorities – some by the McGrail-related ‘witness inducement’ scandal – have taken their toll.
It was alleged through the inquiry that out of twenty-two officers who had left, 18 took up authorities employment.
This has led to the closure of the devoted Drug Squad and the Group Policing Workforce, the sources from which have been redirected to combating financial and cyber-enabled monetary crime, in addition to the Safeguarding group.
