International Justice Day was indeed an appropriate occasion to formalise the already-approved appointment of Carl John as Police Chief by replacing his rank insignias of Commissioner with those of Chief Commissioner (see related story). As John himself said, it’s not about adding another star on his shoulders, but about assuming responsibility for the Police Force.
He had been the favoured candidate to succeed former chief Peter de Witte after the latter stepped down and is known as a staunch defender of the corps, but also one who demands internal discipline, respect and going strictly by the book. It’s perhaps a bit ironic that his inauguration came only days after an incident between St. Maarten police and French Gendarmes at Belvedere. Many may recall having seen John in action for the fi rst time on the front page of this newspaper several years ago, staring down French-side offi cers refusing to let a Dutch-side ambulance pick up his colleagues who had crashed their patrol car in Sandy Ground while pursuing a suspect across the border through the Lowlands. As stated earlier, things have changed since then and protocols for such situations were offi cially established, although now and then there still seems to be some misunderstanding. Justice Minister Edson Kirindongo spoke of ongoing efforts for functional cooperation with – among others – French-side law enforcement counterparts. The key word here is “functional.”
