Deleveaux to provide security advice to Ministry of Education

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Leamond Deleveaux, who was deployed to the Ministry of Education earlier this month, will provide security advice to the ministry, according to Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd.

Lloyd clarified Deleveaux’s new role amid confusion over the transition.

When The Nassau Guardian spoke to ACP Deleveaux yesterday, he said he was still unsure what the

parameters of his new appointment would be.

However, he said that he will meet with Lloyd soon to iron out those issues.

In a letter signed by Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson, dated February 7, Deleveaux was directed to report to the minister of education for at least one year.

“Once I meet with him, I will know how to move forward,” Deleveaux said.

“I spoke to him and he was very decent to me, very decent.”

Deleveaux’s deployment was to take effect on February 13. However, Deleveaux said he only received the letter on the 13th.

Lloyd told reporters that he hopes to meet with Deleveaux on Tuesday.

“When we do meet, I will find out exactly what the terms of engagement will be,” Lloyd told reporters.

“It is my understanding that the officer is to report to this ministry as a consultant, which means that he will provide advice as to the security requirements of the ministry, bearing in mind that the ministry has 172 schools across the archipelago, in addition, 70 or so buildings. That includes, obviously, this building, the Ministry of Education headquarters, as well as teacher cottages.

“It’s a wide spectrum of responsibility from a security standpoint. We, obviously, welcome the help, especially with the experience the officer provides.”

However, he said the day-to-day operation will remain with Christopher Smith, who is the head of security.

Addressing issues related to campus safety, Lloyd insisted that all of them are safe.

“Our challenge is not those students who come to school or who are participants in the school’s operations, these people come from outside and they usually come with intentions of settling scores or something of this nature,” he continued.

“I’m happy that the police made it their business to provide patrols and other oversight mechanisms for many of our school campuses, especially those in areas that we consider to be vulnerable.”

Last March, Deputy Commissioner Emrick Seymour, Senior ACP Stephen Dean, ACP Clarence Reckley, ACP Ashton Greenslade, ACP Theophilus Cunningham, ACP Ken Strachan, ACP Clayton Fernander and Deleveaux were asked to take their many weeks of accumulated vacation.

Strachan was the first senior officer reassigned upon his return to work in December, when he was appointed chief of security for the Willie Mae Pratt and Simpson Penn juvenile schools; and Fernander was the second.

Strachan has since taken legal action; and attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents Strachan, has suggested that Fernander might also take legal action.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/02/22/deleveaux-to-provide-security-advice-to-ministry-of-education/