Weeks before quitting as Commissioner of Police in Grenada, the relationship between the office holder Edvin Martin and new Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dickon Mitchell had become very toxic.

This was told to THE NEW TODAY by a high-level source who commented on the announcement Monday that Martin will be taking up a new position as Commissioner of Police in the British dependency of Turks and Caicos after giving health concerns as the reason for his decision to step down as the island’s chief cop in May.

The source said that there appeared to be great distrust between the two in the weeks after the June 22, 2022 election outcome when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under Dickon Mitchell replaced the New National Party (NNP) of Keith Mitchell in government.

He pointed out that the new Grenadian leader was complaining to close aides that Martin was repeatedly “ignoring things” that he requested of him to do and the Prime Minister had reached a level of frustration with the Police Chief.

According to the source, Martin held the view that the newly installed Prime Minister was listening to some NDC surrogates in the top echelon of the Police Force who were providing him with questionable information and was ignoring the advice and recommendations of the chief cop.

He said that PM Dickon Mitchell literally stopped making contact with Martin on the telephone and the Commissioner also complained that he was making calls to his boss who was not accepting them either.

According to the source, the newly appointed National Security Advisor Willan Thompson, himself a former Commissioner of Police, was the person who served as the go-between in communication between the Prime Minister and Martin.

“I learned that the PM did not use to engage Martin, he used to go through Willan and not Martin directly,” said a well-placed source.

“I am told that Martin would not say that openly because of his professional manner,” he added.

THE NEW TODAY was told that the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister was the other person who facilitated communication between PM Dickon Mitchell and Martin.

The source pointed out that Martin is not used to operating under pressure and the state of relations between both him and the Prime Minister started to affect him and also brought on an increase in his stress level resulting in him being hospitalized for several days.

Martin is from Mt. Moritz, a village in the St George North-west constituency of former Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

A police insider said he sensed that the ex-Commissioner of Police who served for 37 years as a member of RGPF was not committed to either NNP or NDC.

At a press conference to announce his decision to quit as head of RGPF, Commissioner Martin told reporters that his decision to quit the force was “on my own choosing” and that he was not pushed out from the job. “After consultation with my family it is my own deliberate decision to retire at this point in time and that there are no other influencing factors to cause or promote that decision.

“I have heard the discussions in the public’s sphere with all sorts of nuances, innuendo and suspicion as to why Commissioner is departing at this point in time. I just want to make it absolutely clear it is my own deliberate decision in consultation with my family at this point in time.”

Martin also gave assurances that he will be available to assist RGPF if called upon at any time for his knowledge and experience gathered over the years.

Don McKenzie who was brought back from assignment at the Grenada Ports Authority took over as acting Commissioner of Police on Martin’s departure.