In a landmark overhaul of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ national security apparatus, Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock has confirmed that two biological brothers will occupy top leadership posts in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, as part of a wide-ranging restructuring that also touches school security and the national fire service.
Speaking on NBC Radio on Wednesday, May 13, Leacock laid out the timeline and details of the senior leadership changes: when current acting Police Chief and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Frankie Joseph retires upon the expiration of his upcoming leave, veteran officer Trevor “Buju” Bailey will step into the role of acting DCP. His younger brother Dwayne Bailey, a superintendent who has overseen the country’s prison system since 2021, will return to the police high command as a second DCP. The appointments mark the first time two siblings from the same household will serve simultaneously at the most senior levels of the national police force, a development Leacock described as unprecedented in the country’s history.
The restructuring leaves current Commissioner of Police Enville Williams in his post, and follows the newly elected New Democratic Party (NDP) government’s approval of an additional DCP position in the national budget passed in February. When the budget was approved, Leacock had previously suggested the extra post might remain unfilled in 2026, with allocated funds directed to stipends for acting corporals. He clarified Wednesday that those stipends will continue even as the government fills the two new DCP roles, emphasizing that Dwayne Bailey’s return to top command will strengthen the force’s operational capacity. Leacock framed Dwayne Bailey’s shift from prisons to police as an almost lateral rank change, but a strategically critical move for public safety. Before his 2021 appointment to run prisons, Dwayne Bailey was a leading frontline crime-fighter with the police’s Rapid Response Unit, and took over the prison system after convicted murderer Veron Primus escaped twice while awaiting trial.
The Bailey brothers’ appointments are just the centerpiece of a much broader reshuffle that includes multiple promotions and reassignments across senior ranks. One of the most notable promotions goes to Brenton Smith, a former Station Sergeant with a Master of Science in police leadership and management, who will jump directly from his current rank to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). Smith was fired from the force in 2021 under the previous Unity Labour Party government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and later served as NDP’s general secretary until last December. He was reinstated with all full benefits under the new NDP government’s policy of restoring roles to workers dismissed over the mandate. In his new role as head of the police’s human resource development department, Smith will tackle longstanding complaints about promotion stagnation, including cases where officers remain constables for 20 to 25 years while others rise to senior rank in just a few years. His portfolio will cover performance appraisals, training, recruitment, and manpower planning to streamline force operations.
A second senior superintendent, Junior Simmons, a longtime police spokesperson and intelligence specialist, will also be promoted to the rank of ACP. Final confirmations for the new promotions are on hold while current ACP Christopher Benjamin, who is currently on leave, prepares to retire after his leave ends. Leacock added that an additional ACP appointment may be announced in the near future once all acting role transitions are finalized.
The restructuring has already sparked public controversy, particularly over the reassignment of two current ACPs, Benzil Samuel and Hezran Ballantyne, to oversee national school security. Critics have argued that posting senior police officers to schools is unnecessary and amounts to over-policing, but Leacock pushed back against that criticism, noting that school security has long been inadequate across much of the country. Many schools lack proper perimeter fencing, and understaffed auxiliary police forces are often overwhelmed managing campuses with hundreds of students, while auxiliary officers do not always carry the same authority as regular police. Leacock said the decision to assign senior ACPs to overhaul school security follows direct requests from school leaders and parent-teacher associations, and is rooted in on-the-ground assessments by police command. He added that rising concerns about unruly public behavior across the country make the upgrade to school security a pressing priority, and the government will move forward with the plan despite objections.
Leacock also rejected claims that the widespread leadership and structural changes amount to a government power grab that will turn St. Vincent and the Grenadines into a “police state”, calling the accusations far-fetched. The entire restructuring, he emphasized, is driven by a practical need to address longstanding operational challenges, target so-called “bad actors” fueling crime and public disorder, and rebuild depleted capacity across the full national security spectrum—including police, prisons, fire services, and auxiliary security forces.
The leadership reshuffle has opened up vacancies across every rank of the police force, from constable up to superintendent, and the government plans to launch new recruitment drives to fill these gaps. Leacock also announced plans to strengthen specialized police units, which have been depleted in recent years, leading to inconsistent security details for embassies, judges, and senior government officials, particularly on weekends. To address this gap, the government is considering creating a dedicated formal guard unit, staffed by a mix of specially trained auxiliary officers and tactical unit personnel, to take over permanent responsibility for these security details. Moving forward, Leacock added, the government will end the practice of arbitrarily reassigning highly trained specialized officers to regular beat duty, a shift designed to increase operational efficiency through deeper specialization.