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These are the sentiments of St. Croix District Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Arthur Joseph, who, along with his counterpart in the St. Thomas-St. John District, Lisa Plaskett-Samuel, recently filed suit against Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. and the Virgin Islands Government over what he says is the unfair and unlawful promotion of police personnel in both island districts.

“For quite some time, [police] commissioner after [police] commissioner and governor after governor have promoted individuals from the rank of officer to the rank of corporal without consulting or complying with the Virgin Islands Code,” Joseph said, adding that V.I. Code states, “Any appointment or promotion in the classified service shall be based on fitness and competitive examination.”

“This has been on the books for quite sometime, but whether it was being complied with, was a different story,” Joseph said, pointing out that the rank of police corporal falls under the classified service, and the V.I. Code applies to other classified positions, not just police officers.

In 2008, when he became president of the St. Croix District PBA, a union that represents 130 police officers, Joseph said his role also entailed that of chief negotiator. In that capacity, he said he has been working to correct how some promotions are meted out in the Virgin Islands Police Department for more than three years.

Arthur Joseph, Police Benevolent Association president, St. Croix District

“When we met with the government in 2011, this was an issue that we tried to address at the table,” he said. “But negotiations broke down because we could not agree on the issue of pay,” so, Joseph said, union members eventually agreed to perform job duties on a day-to-day contract.

“We continued to talk to the government about the structuring of how we do promotions in the police department because it caused a lot of animosity between officers and it really tore at the very core of the morale of the police department,” he said. “It also created favoritism and nepotism.”

But because police leadership turned a deaf ear to the union’s pleas, Joseph said, the matter ended up in court this month.

“And we were trying to avoid the very litigation we ended up having…since 2011, this is how long I’ve been trying to address this issue,” he said.

Joseph said the recent hearing in Virgin Islands Superior Court on Dec. 3 stemmed from a series of events that began in April when he and Plaskett-Samuel met with then Virgin Islands Dir. of Personnel, Kenneth Herman, “to hammer out an agreement to comply with the law and at the same time give management the right to have a selection process, some form of a test, which would comprise of an interview, to choose the best qualified individuals in the rank of police to move to the rank of corporal.”

Joseph said Herman had “agreed in principle” with what was discussed and promised the two union heads he would get back to them and put, “what we called a stipulated agreement together, which would comply with the law and still meet the needs of management and the concerns of the union.”

But, he said they never again heard from Herman, who has since resigned his position on Nov. 1.

In October, Plaskett-Samuel and Joseph, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the 31st Legislature in the November 4 General Election, again met with the governor to “address the issue of promotion to the rank of Sargent and the rank of corporal.”

“When we met with Government House, we tried again, unsuccessfully, to get some dialogue going on the issue of how we can promote individuals, talked about our discussion with Kenneth Herman and we talked about how we can promote these individuals and maintain the integrity of the police department and allow respect for the law and at the same time, allow for a process that would select or appoint or allow for the best-qualified individual to move forward into the rank of corporal,” Joseph explained.

However, he said Governor de Jongh once again turned a deaf ear to the union’s requests.

“The Governor said, basically, based on his interpretation of the law and what he thinks he has the right to do…and he was going based on the advice of his commissioner, Rodney Querrard, that’s his baby, and there was no more discussion on that issue,” Joseph said.

Soon after that meeting, Joseph said he received a telephone call informing him of the names of the persons whom were slated to receive promotions by VIPD leadership. One published report say the list included 11 police officers on St. Croix and 13 on St. Thomas.

“I got a phone call telling me that they plan to promote a group of individuals–10 or 11 individuals to the rank of corporal,” Joseph said. “I did not believe the picks until I got word from someone else that confirmed that this was going to take place.”

Gov. John P. de Jongh, Jr. and Police Commissioner Rodney F. Querrard, Sr.

That was when legal action was taken, Joseph said.

“We made contact with our attorney and based on the information we received, we moved forward to file a case in court,” he said, adding that the St. Thomas union opted to file a grievance.

“We filed the case in court because there was no way forward in the grievance process to kind of address this matter as quickly as it needed to be addressed,” he said. “Because once you promote these individuals, I don’t know if you’re going to get to turn back the clock on it. So, the only place that we felt we could have gotten recourse and really address this matter before it becomes a problem was the court.”

But, even with a Temporary Restraining Order filing in place and an impending court hearing, Joseph said that did not stop VIPD leadership from trying to push through the promotions.

“We ended up filing a TRO and despite filing the TRO and the judge setting a court date for the third of this month, Rodney Querrard insisted, despite knowing that we were to hear the matter before the judge on Dec. 3, he was prepared, just before Thanksgiving, to promote these individuals,” he explained.

Joseph said Police Commissioner Rodney Querrard, Sr. was advised by counsel that the promotions should be halted until the case was heard before the court.

“The judges, when they learned he was going to create this issue, they granted the TRO and stopped the promotion of these individuals to the rank of corporal,” he said, adding, “They allowed the other promotions, which were done consistent with the law.”

Joseph was referring to other positions within the police department that also require police officers to sit an examination in order to move up in rank.

“The supervisor takes a competitive examination and the lieutenant takes a competitive examination,” he said, adding that the ranking system within the police department goes from Sargent to lieutenant and lieutenant to captain.

“When you reach a captain, the only other position that you can get is either chief or deputy chief,” Joseph explained. “These are within the rank structure, but those are positions that are appointed by the governor. So, those are political appointments after the rank of captain.”

Regarding the Dec. 3 court hearing, Joseph said he and other union representatives testified “to the facts and circumstances surrounding why the union took the position it took.”

“We know that everyone wants to be promoted,” he said. “Almost all the officers are interested in upward mobility within the police department at some point and time within their careers, and we know how important it is for them, so we were sensitive to those concerns and did not want this matter to end up in court, but the government was insisting on violating the law.”

Joseph said that during cross examination of government officials, including Commissioner Querrard, the union’s attorney was “brilliantly able to draw from them that the government had no intention of ever complying with the law. And that was the most telling situation because this is a law enforcement agency, who is headed by a former chief of police that’s head of his staff.”

He continued, “Commissioner Querrard said it, and I think Commissioner Hannah said it, that they had no intention of complying with the law. They had all intentions of promoting these individuals based on their belief that they had the right to do it.”

He went on to say that the stance of the VIPD’s top leadership is “warped.”

“They have this warped belief that because they did it in the past that, now you know it’s wrong, it’s still okay to keep doing,” he said. “I think it shocked the judge. I think it shocked some of the folks who were in the courtroom, as well. This is what the two top individuals in the law enforcement agencies in the District of St. Croix have no regard for what the law says?”

While Joseph says he “feels strongly” that the police union will “prevail on this matter,” he does not believe there are any “winners” in this case.

“Even if we prevail, the damage has been done to the integrity and the credibility of the police department and its leadership,” he said. “The legacy of the commissioner is going to be one of law violator not enforcer. These are the things that kind of erode the very core of our community and sends the wrong message to those who, in the community, believe in justice and somehow, it looks like the top brass in the police department believe in just us. ‘Just us’ can do what we want and everybody else has to comply with the law. And that’s a sad perception. A perception becomes a reality when the public starts to say that we are above the law.”

The V.I. Government has filed a motion in Superior Court for the suit’s dismissal, calling its claims “unfounded.” And in a sharply worded press release issued on Dec. 4, the Government said the lawsuit is “simply without merit and is intended to solely stall the promotion of police personnel to supervisory ranks, as has been done for decades and as is necessary for the department to emerge from under the federal consent decree.”

The press release also contained a statement from Police Commissioner Querrard, who said, “It is well known by the PBA leadership that the rank structure of the VIPD requires no examination or has ever been required for an officer to be promoted to the rank of Police Corporal. The issuance of the rank is based on exemplary service, commitment to duty and years of service to the department. We have utilized the same process and standards for those that currently hold the rank of Corporal within the department. Every one of the officers selected for promotion have in excess of fifteen years of service with the department, and have demonstrated their dedication to law enforcement and the people of the Virgin Islands whom they are sworn to protect.”

As it stands, Joseph said St. Thomas Superior Court Judge Kathleen Mackay has given the parties the opportunity to resolve the dispute on their own. If they are unable to do so, “it would go back to her and she would make a decision on this issue.”