Grenada’s Former Top Cop Says PM Mitchell’s Marijuana Photo ‘Embarrassed the Force’ 

Grenada: When Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell smiled for a photo beside a marijuana plant, little he knew that his photo could land like a slap to the authorities at the Royal Grenada Police Force. Former Acting Deputy Commissioner Tafawa Pierre, a 34-year-old veteran forced out of service earlier this year alleged that the photo ‘Dashed water in the face’ of the officers still chasing drug offenders.

In the pic going viral on the internet, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell is seen posing along a marijuana plant holding one of its leaves with his hands. The picture looked like a harmless PR for the governments upcoming shift to legalize cannabis officially in the country by the end of this year.

However, the photograph is now making rounds with locals citing their opinions and critics questioning the government’s fierce move.

Bad for National Security: Tafawa Pierre

In a fiery interview on Simon Says, the Tafawa Pierre accused the Prime Minister of being ‘bad for national security’ and claimed that his leadership has pushed nearly a hundred senior officers to leave the force. According to Pierre, the new legislation hits a nerve as it touches a larger problem, a police force losing experience, morale and direction.

“Here we are running after people who are involved,” Pierre said. “You’re posing with some Ganja tree planted by someone, and you’re smiling on social media for all to see. What are you saying to the police?”

Rising tensions between the RGPF

Pierre in his interview also shed light on the rising tensions between the RGPF, since PM Mitchell’s National Democratic Congress took the office. He claimed that senior officers aligned with the previous government have been sidelined or reassigned. Pierre said that he was himself demoted after years of top performance ratings, shortly after his wife Emmalin Pierre became the opposition leader.