Public safety issues crop up during police chief appointment hearing

Senators scrutinized the credentials and experience of acting Department of Public Safety commissioner Robert Guerrero during a hearing yesterday on his appointment to the department’s top post.

After hearing a chorus of support from law enforcement officials for Guerrero during a public comment period, senators of Committee on Executive Appointments & Government Investigations brought up concerns with public safety in the Commonwealth, urging Guerrero to address these issues if confirmed.

Sen. Justo Quitugua (Ind-Saipan) said “from Rota to Tinian to Saipan” he has heard comments from the community on the issue of drugs.

Recalling words from a community pastor, Quitugua said, “ice [crystal methamphetamine] is like candy in the villages…because it gets down to the kids.” He urged Guerrero to take a look at the issue. “If it’s in the villages, it is in the schools also,” Quitugua said.

Sen. Arnold Palacios (R- Saipan)—referring to criticism about Guerrero’s experience—asked Guerrero point blank, “Are you ready to prove them wrong?”

Guerrero, in turn, said he was and added he would rely on officers “that know,” saying that he was there to support, to be “a pen,” and to spend for the needs of his police officers.

Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan), for his part, said the “the option before us shouldn’t be too difficult.” He said Guerrero’s experience gives confidence that he can lead the “men and women in blue.”

Committee chair Sen. Frank Cruz (R-Tinian) also asked Guerrero to work on concerns regarding court cases thrown out due to procedural mistakes made by law enforcement. “Everybody makes a mistake, but we cannot continue to make the same mistake,” said Cruz, urging Guerrero to work with his department and the Attorney General’s Office on this.

In speaking before the committee, Guerrero recalled his efforts as a former Department of Corrections commissioner. He noted, among others, a program developed that offered vocational training to prisoners in carpentry, masonry, and electric and plumbing.

“I also did not hesitate to remove [DOC] officers” that showed “improper conduct and activity,” Guerrero also said.

Speaking to criticism of his experience, Guerrero said his “job was not to be [a] police officer” or an expert, but to provide leadership and guidance.

Allaying any doubts of insincerity or “double talk,” Guerrero said, “With me, what you see is what you get” and directed senators to some of the concerns hindering the department’s morale, such as the lack of a raise in pay since the 1990s.

He said officers make only 16,000 a year and that means about $7.69 per hour, which only can buy about “2 gallons of gas, and four cans of Spam.”

“The uniforms of our men and women have not been replaced in years,” he said, calling these problems a strain on officers’ families and a need for necessary funds and proper equipment.

The Senate is expected to confirm Guerrero’s appointment as DPS commissioner in a session later this week.

A full house showed up at the Senate chamber yesterday in support of Guerrero.

Among them were Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Richard Seman and former DPS commissioner James Deleon Guerrero, now special assistant for Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Seman attested to Guerrero’s ability to work well with personnel and staff. “He has the ability to connect professionally and on a personal basis,” he said.

Seman recalled Guerrero’s time as a Smiling Cove marina manager, saying that Guerrero transformed the marina “into what it is now.”

“This is the kind of leadership that we really need,” Seman said.

Deleon Guerrero, for his part, said criticism against Guerrero’s experience “is quite unfair.”

He disclosed that he personally recommended Guerrero to the DPS post to Gov. Ralph Torres, upon being informed of his appointment to Homeland Security.