In praise of Ellison Greenslade

As of Friday, October 27, 2017

EDITOR, The Tribune.

WOULD you kindly provide me with some of your space in your very popular newspaper to praise a great Bahamian, former Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade?

I first met this dynamic man many years ago when he was in the computer section of the Force. We remained friends over the many years.

I believe that we were fortunate to have had a man of unparalleled integrity and crime fighting initiatives such as our sixth Commissioner of Police in an Independent Bahamas. Commissioner Greenslade joined the Executive Management Team of the force upon being promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police in July of 2000 after serving in a number of Divisional command positions in the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

He served the country with distinction, and he put his life on the line every single day, because of what he was called to do. He responded effectively to the challenges and trials and crises that naturally surrounded the gut-wrenching and debilitating moments of the lives of Bahamians and visitors alike. When called upon to be on the front line whether in Bain Town, Kemp Road, Fox Hill, East Street, Grants Town, Pinewood, Blair, Nassau East, or Cable Beach, he reacted with the utmost professionalism.

He was the kind of law enforcement officer who was always available to aid and to validate , never maligning, nor judging but listening with a third ear. Former Commissioner of Police Greenslade treated me as a professional with the utmost respect. He quickly recognised that I had a gift to inspire and motivate people and he contracted my services on a number of occasions. I thank him today for raising the ceiling on my possibilities.

Former Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade succinctly understood that “turning to his officers with a caring heart surely sustained the life force for those assigned with guardianship of public safety.” His career as a law enforcement officer was truly a calling and he ‘did not take the tasks inherent in the very noble and distinguished undertaking lightly.

And so he followed in the footsteps of some great Bahamian Commissioners of Police from Salathiel Thompson, Gerald Bartlett, BK Bonamy, Paul Farquharson and Reginald Ferguson. I salute these great sons of the soil and I wish Mr Greenslade much success and happiness in the next chapter of his illustrious career.

SPENCE M FINLAYSON

Nassau,

October 16, 2017.

birdiestrachan 6 years, 5 months ago

Mr: Greenslade is a great man who was treated unfairly. But it is all right. and he will do well. for the scriptures says. "If God is for one who can be against them" God will walk with him all the days of his life. The God of Abraham is a God of justice and his justice will prevail.

Well_mudda_take_sic 6 years, 5 months ago

This fella's gross incompetence in fighting crime (all show and no do) combined with his constant kowtowing to corrupt politicians for his supper resulted in much misery and even death for many Bahamians. Just hearing the guy's name makes me want to barf.

sheeprunner12 6 years, 5 months ago

Why does it seem that it is unpopular to call a spade a spade ...... in this case an incompetent COP???????? ........... The COP must (in the future) be able to function independently of the PM.

TigerB 6 years, 5 months ago

Life is so strange, BK Bonamy was run out of office when crime was taking its toll, same thing happened to Paul Farquharson, when crime was out of control, Reg Ferguson served just one year and handed over to Greenslade. Reg murder count was 88, and a brand new murder record. Greenslade first year it was 96, and it kept rising. He will go on record as the worst commissioner of police ever. I'm a firm believer that The C.O.P is responsible for crime, not the minister. I still remember Dr. Nottage visiting schools in his early ministry as National Security. I admired his efforts, but that should have been the C.O.P... So birdie, in the eyes of the police force, the only thing that matters is STATS. Those are the facts.

Reality_Check 6 years, 5 months ago

It is truly gut wrenching to watch Greenslade get rewarded for his gross incompetence in fighting crime and for the role he played in endorsing all of the unnecessary and very costly police promotions made by the corrupt Christie-led PLP government during the last general election campaign as part of their "vote buying" efforts. Thanks to the incompetent Greenslade, we now have an ineffective police force made up of all highly paid incompetent chiefs with no indians. Minnis has made countless serious errors in judgement since becoming PM and this is just another one of them. As for any hope of Commissioner Thompson doing a better job than the grossly incompetent Greenslade did, well you can forget that happening. Thompson was completely ineffective while serving as Greenslade's right arm and will more than likely be as lousy a Commissioner as Greenslade was. We really need to bring an end to promotion by tenure alone in our police force and introduce a promotion system based on crime fighting merit as judged by an independent panel within the Ministry of National Security and not by the police commissioner.

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