Commissioner Williams says sorry for misleading country about departure

Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams has apologised for misleading the country when he suggested in an interview last week that he was not stepping soon.

Last week, the outgoing Police Commissioner told RJR’s Hotline host Emily Shields that he had been engaged in high-level discussions about succession planning in the force.

However, he also rejected the assertion that he would be leaving in 2017.

Speaking on Beyond the Headlines on RJR yesterday evening, Commissioner Williams said the matter of his future raised by Shields had caught him off guard.

He said admitting he was leaving the post during last week’s interview would not have been right:

Meanwhile, Commissioner Williams has criticised the leak of his resignation letter to the media.

Yesterday, The Gleaner reported it had obtained a copy of the letter Commissioner Williams wrote to the Police Service Commission indicating that he will proceed on early retirement, effective January 6.

Commissioner Williams says the leak of the letter hastened the timetable for his departure.

He says he was prepared to remain in the job months into 2017, until the matter of a successor was settled: