Wanted: bright investigators to fill INDECOM posts

THE HEAD of the newly created Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), Terrence Williams, says his agency is trying to attract bright people to work as investigators.

INDECOM has advertised 122 posts, 55 of which are for investigators who are being offered salaries higher than those paid to police inspectors.

" ... Because our aim is to bring a more cerebral approach to investigation, so we were told we needed to have university graduates," Williams told The Gleaner yesterday.

"It is also a reflection of a change in the approach as to how the organisation is set up. When I came here, you had more administrators than you had investigators," he added.

INDECOM has indicated it would pay each investigator a maximum of $1.8 million yearly.

"We have around 12 (investigators) right now and we hope to increase to 22 right away," Williams told The Gleaner.

Based on the salaries being offered by INDECOM, an investigator who gets paid at the maximum $1.8 million would take home more than a police inspector who now earns $1.5 million per year.

Williams said he "hopes" the salaries being offered are attractive enough for persons to want to join his team. His agency wants to pay five senior investigators a maximum of $2.2 million each, which is marginally higher than the salary being paid to a assistant superintendent of police.

Yearly cost

The salaries for 55 investigators could cost the country more than $100 million if they are being paid at the maximum salary advertised. The commission also plans to pay approximately $186.3 million in salaries yearly, based on figures advertised.

According to Williams, in determining the salaries offered to investigators, INDECOM wanted to make it "attractive given the complexity of the positions and persons who would be able to have the attitude to take on the training at a tertiary title level".

INDECOM was in December allocated $86.4 million in the first Supplementary Estimates to carry out its operations. Of that figure, $51.4 million was to pay employees.

Williams told The Gleaner that based on an assessment of the amount of work the commission will be required to do, INDECOM has decided to advertise 122 posts. He, however, conceded that all these posts might not be filled this fiscal year because of budgetary constraints.

"What we are doing is hiring, trying to set up our teams based upon regions of the country and the nature of the allegations so they can meet this task in the new year whilst we carry on our cases that we have been doing before," Williams said.