BPA head: Cops leaving for higher pay, better terms

P olice officers want the Mia Mottley administration to let them retire at 55, warning that rising gun risks and younger, more brazen criminals make plans to keep them on the streets into their late 60s untenable, Barbados TODAY can reveal. The Police Association’s president, acting Assistant Superintendent Wendley Carter, said on Tuesday that the current pensionable age of 67 – which the government plans to raise in the coming years – was no longer fit for purpose for officers confronting a new type of criminal on the streets of Barbados. He said: “Imagine a 68-year-old officer fighting with a 20-year-old boy. There is only one way that is going to go. “[There are] more risks than when I first started in 1985. In 1985 we didn’t have so many guns. You could have felt comfortable patrolling without a firearm; but these days, that’s a no-no.

We have to look at the retirement age too, because we made a submission for that. You can’t have police officers who are 68 years old patrolling the streets of Barbados. ” In the House of Assembly, making a ministerial statement on the revitalisation of the National Insurance Scheme this morning, Labour Minister Colin Jordan announced several measures to stabilise the social security system, including an increase in the pensionable age. In 2028, the pensionable age will rise from 67 to 67½, and in 2034 to 68. The number of contributions required to qualify for a pension is also to increase, from 500 weeks to 750 weeks. The age at which people can first qualify for an early pension has also been adjusted, rising from 60 to 61 in 2025, 62 in 2028, and 63 in 2031. Police officers also want a pension scheme separate from national insurance and social security, ASP Carter said. He explained: “We fall under the government, so we fall under…