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Certificate of Service for States of Jersey police officers

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1240/5(8141)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY DEPUTY M.R. HIGGINS OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 18th FEBRUARY 2014

Question

Will the Minister confirm that an Officer of 31 years' service would normally be entitled to a Certificate of Service signed by the Chief Officer of Police? Will he explain the reasons why such an officer would not receive such a certificate for his service?

Answer

Article 9(3) of the Police Force (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1974 provides that on leaving the Force, an officer shall be given a certificate showing details of his / her service.

In 2007, for reasons which are not completely clear, but which may relate to changes of staff, the States of Jersey Police stopped arranging for the issuing of such certificates and instead provided officers who were leaving the Force with a letter which contained similar details. The issue was raised recently by the officer referred to in the question and as a result I met with the Deputy Chief Officer and with a member of the Home Affairs HR staff in order to resolve this.

An appropriate certificate had now been issued to this officer and to one other officer and the correct practice of issuing certificates has been restored.

The said Article 9(3) does not stipulate who signs the certificate and in my view the signatures could properly include one or more of the Minister for Home Affairs, the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, the Chairman of the Police Authority, the Chief Officer of Police or the Deputy Chief Officer of Police.

I am in the process of reviewing the Police Force (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 1974 and intend to replace this with a new Order later this year.

I believe that the tradition of a leaving certificate is a good tradition, which appropriately marks appreciation for a period of service in the States of Jersey Police and it is my intention to maintain this tradition but with less information than is currently required by the existing Order.