HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission held a special meeting Thursday to address a single matter: the need for an interim executive director.
By unanimous vote, Guam Police Department Chief Stephen Ignacio was appointed to the position for the purpose of certifying commission certificates.
The previous interim executive director was then-Department of Corrections Director Robert Camacho, who died in March. Until Thursday, no one had been appointed in his place, which caused some issues for those in law enforcement.
“One of the issues that we are running into is peace officer standards and training certification. … When people are coming into the government or they’re trying to go up for promotion, they need to go through a process in which you get your credentials certified and, absent anyone sitting in that position, we can’t normally do anything,” said Vincent Perez, POST chair and chief of the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency.
Camacho previously filled in as the certifying officer as the commission sought to fill the position permanently.
During the meeting, it was clear the commission had to work out the logistics on how it would go about the selection process of hiring a permanent executive director. Ignacio, in the meantime, will fill the role as certifying officer.
“We have a lot of academies going on and, right now, I believe Customs and Quarantine Agency is about to graduate personnel. I have mine, and apparently we are stuck with certifications because we all need somebody by law who is authorized to sign these certifications upon completion,” said Ray Matanona, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting chief and POST vice chair.
Stephen Ignacio
