“There is no Officer in Charge. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ronald Phillip is the Acting Commissioner,” Pierre affirmed.

Phillip continues to act as the Top Cop for a second consecutive month following the retirement of Cruscita Descartes-Pelius, Saint Lucia’s first female Commissioner of Police.

 During his first month acting on the job, Phillip has been credited with ameliorating the processing of passports at the immigration department where over 3000 passports were issued in under 3 weeks. This longstanding issue has plagued the department since the island’s switch to e-passports in 2022.

 The RSLPF has come under heavy pressure given the proliferation of gun-violence in Saint Lucia and the region and has been bolstered by the RSS. Despite these events, Saint Lucia has seen a successful and incident-free hosting of national events for the year including the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival and National Carnival Events. 

The Minister for National Security gave no indications as to the end date of Phillip’s acting appointment or whether he would be confirmed in the position. Phillip’s appointment has been met with heavy criticism by the Opposition who first stated that he was the godson of the Prime Minister – a rumor which has since been dispelled by the Prime Minister in Parliament. However, unsubstantiated claims by the opposition continue to swirl but Prime Minister Pierre has called for due process to prevail.