Police officer asks why payment for work at special events amounts to days in lieu – instead of compensation in cash like other territories

A police officer is asking why local lawmen are not remunerated at the same
levels as their regional counterparts for duties performed at major private
events.
 
According to the officer, he has discussed the matter with colleagues from
other territories, including Jamaica and Trinidad &Tobago, who confirmed
that their rates of compensation for such work are higher.
 
For more than his 25 years in the Force, the officer says, he has been covering
such events; and he is often told that the donation given by the event’s
organizers had been placed in a Special Fund.

However, the lawman says, he is still waiting to get money from this Special
Fund. What is usually done, he explains, is that those officers who cover these
events – such as the recently concluded Small Island Developing States
(SIDS4) conference – are given seven days’ leave in lieu of payment.
 
He notes that when officers are scheduled for these special events, it puts a
strain on those who have to carry out their normal duties and must step up to
the plate to ensure the work gets done.

 
And in spite of the long hours they might be required to work for these
functions, he claims the officers are not compensated like their regional
colleagues and the Police are not paid overtime.
 
Accordingly, he believes that the Special Fund should be dissolved and the
accumulated money paid out to the officers who have worked such events
over two decades.
 
Meanwhile, when REAL News attempted to determine whether such a fund
exists, our newsroom was given the names of five specific funds to which
officers contribute. However, the “Special Fund” is not one of them.
A source says there is a Reward Fund into which monies from disciplinary
hearings involving police officers are deposited. There is also a Sports Fund,
and monies that go towards this reportedly are deducted from the salaries of
the lower ranks, the source says.
 
A Pavilion Fund receives monies from the rental of the Police Recreation
Grounds for certain sporting, social, or entertainment events. And there is
also an Officers Fund to which money goes for events such as the Officers
Mess.
 
The source says that a new fund, dubbed the Elite Escort Service, has been set
up, and monies are paid into this by businesses or persons who use the police
outrider services.
 
REAL News reported recently on allegations about this fund, which,
reportedly, is being controlled by two officers. According to the source, unlike
the other Funds, payment into this one is not directed through the Treasury,
and this practice, the source says, could be illegal.