By Telesha Ramnarine
THE level of absenteeism in the City Constabulary has become alarming, with officers often taking advantage of the fact that not many persons are interested in joining the Constabulary.

But Chief Constable Andrew Foo has said that vacancies are being advertised in the newspapers, and, so far, the Constabulary has been receiving responses. Once the vacancies are filled, those persons who are guilty of absenteeism would have to go.

Councillor Bishram Kuppen recently raised the issue at the Council’s statutory meeting, revealing staggering figures of sick leave and absent days taken by constabulary officers during the period March to May 2016.

With regard to sick leave, Kuppen informed the meeting that for March, 31, officers reported sick for a total of 123 sick days; for April, 22 officers reported sick for a total of 80 days; and for May, 26 officers reported sick for a total of 103 days.

For absent days, Kuppen said that for March, 64 officers were absent for a total of 148 days; for April, 64 officers were absent for a total of 153 days; and for May, 72 officers were absent for a total of 164 days.

Kuppen asked to be provided with information on what is being done to address this situation.

“This is worrying. How are they providing security when so many of them are absent?” he asked.

In an invited comment on Friday, the Chief Constable said that although the figures presented by Kuppen are high, these are not the highest levels to date. The action of the officers has to do with the harsh conditions that some officers have to endure, he offered.

However, there are other officers who simply take advantage of the fact that the Constabulary is always in need of officers.

According to Foo, procuring a minibus to transport officers, especially at night, when the absenteeism is greatest, is still being looked at, although it was budgeted for last year.
Foo told the statutory meeting on Monday that the department has noticed that some officers have established a pattern of absenteeism, especially when it comes to night duties.

He remarked, also, that the usual procedure of dealing with this issue is that the officer would be written to, and following the third letter, a comprehensive report would be prepared as to why that person’s service should be terminated.

Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan commented that the problem could very well be that the officers do not have a proper system of transportation, and may be exposed to the elements and so forth at night.

Foo responded that transportation is definitely a factor, and observed that the majority of officers are females and are working under atrocious conditions.