When there is institutional turmoil, it exposes not only the vulnerabilities of leadership, but also the importance of citizens discharging their civic responsibilities. An example is the unfolding crisis in Mount Vernon, USA that has seen the arrest of a former deputy police commissioner. Also the conspicuous silence from the mayor because of her ‘closeness’ to the former deputy commissioner. The silence of officials at a time transparency is required with the public is familiar to Barbadians. Good governance is not only the duty of elected officials; it is a shared civic duty that requires the citizenry to demand transparency, insist on accountability at all times. We MUST resist normalising silence. Wishful thinking some will say.

In Mount Vernon, USA, multiple departments are under scrutiny, yet the leadership so far as reported has retreated from public view. This is precisely when citizens must practice good governance: by asking informed questions, organising community action groups, and insisting that those in authority speak plainly. We witnessed it recently when the government was forced to rethink the location of the 2026 Pic-O-De-Crop finals. The strength of any democracy – whether in Barbados or Mount Vernon, USA – rests not only on leaders who communicate, but on citizens who refuse to accept silence where accountability is required.

Are we there yet?

See relevant links:

NY police bigwig who drove son to gang shooting is sorority sisters with mayor who gave her job

By Joe Marino, Steven Vago and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

Published Aug. 6, 2026,

Ex-Mount Vernon deputy police commish arraigned in Bronx on charges including attempted murder

The disgraced Westchester County police official charged with driving her gangbanging son to a shooting is a sorority sister of the mayor who gave her the cushy gig.

Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard hired Jennifer Lackard to head up the newly created police department Wellness Unit in 2020, despite her having no law enforcement experience, an ex-con husband and an out-of-control son in a street gang. 

City officials confirmed Thursday that the mayor and the disgraced police bigwig were sorority sisters, with sources telling The Post they were both sworn to Delta Sigma Theta.

They attended different schools however, with Lackard having studied the University of Michigan as an undergraduate and Cornell University for a master’s in labor and industrial relations while Patterson-Howard having attended Howard University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.Continue watchingThis Day in Historyafter the ad

The two also attend Grace Baptist Church, an influential congregation in the troubled suburban city, and sources said the church’s politically connected pastor, the Rev. Franklyn Richardson, may have pulled some strings to help Lackard land the lucrative job.

A spokesperson for Richardson declined to comment.