Griffith commends Hinds for tackling TTPS overtime issues
Former Police Commissioner and NTA political leader Gary Griffith actually had praise for National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for his comments regarding overtime corruption within the TTPS, but also noted the steps he took while in office to combat the issue have since been ignored.
Hinds raised the issue while speaking during the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament yesterday.
Griffith said some officers have exploited the system. However, he said while he was commissioner, he took several steps to combat the issue.
“Regarding overtime, it is unfortunate that no Police Commissioner, before or after me, took a hands-on approach to this corruption,” Griffith said in a release.
“I discovered that just a few hundred officers in specific stations were claiming overtime practically 24 hours a day, 30 days a month, with false claims being signed off by certain senior officers,” he recounted. “This meant some officers, who should have been earning around $10,000 per month, were instead receiving over $70,000 by falsely claiming overtime. We addressed this issue, reducing overtime by over $100 million per annum for three consecutive years.”
Griffith said in addition to overtime, other issues were costing the TTPS millions, like suspended officers who still receive pay.
He noted during his tenure, over 300 officers were on suspension, costing taxpayers over $50 million annually.
But Griffith claimed since his departure, the situation has deteriorated.
He claimed rogue officers have returned to previous divisions and plans to address the suspended officers have stalled while overtime “corruption” has resumed.
He also accused Minister Hinds of trusting the “false narratives of rogue officers”, allowing them to maintain their positions and continue exploiting the system at taxpayers’ expense.
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