Haiti’s transition government appoints new police chief in efforts to curtail gang violence 

PORT-AU-PRINCE— Haiti’s new government announced Wednesday the appointment of Rameau Normil, a police divisional commissioner, as director general of the Haitian National Police (PNH). The decree officializing Normil’s appointment was signed by the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) members and Prime Minister Garry Conille following a council of ministers meeting at the Villa d’Accueil on June 19.

“We hope that the new director general will get to work and utilize all the resources of the police institution to help him deliver results. The population cannot wait any longer; the challenges are numerous,” PNH union SYNAPOHA said in a statement.

Normil steps into the role fraught with challenges, replacing Frantz Elbé, whose tenure has been widely criticized for failing to curb the rampant gang violence that has gripped the nation. The change at the head of the PNH comes as Prime Minister Conille has faced increased pressure to strengthen the police. The law enforcement institution has been woefully underfunded and ill-equipped, rendering it ineffective against well-organized and powerful gangs. 

This is Normil’s second tenure as head of the institution. He was previously appointed in 2019 under the Moise-Jouthe government but dismissed in November 2020 for lack of results against rampant gang violence. He was replaced by Léon Charles, who also faced backlash as police chief and replaced by Elbé shortly after President Moise’s assassination in 2021.

During his first stint as PNH’s director general, Normil was accused of laxity in the face of increasing gang violence in Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Then Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe publicly criticized Normil, calling for his resignation due to his inability to deliver security to the people.

Here is a highlight of  the new PNH chief’s carer at the institution

Normil has an extensive understanding of Haiti’s police institution. He is a member of the fourth promotion of the PNH and studied military infantry in Chile in 1999.

He has held several key positions within the institution. Before his appointment, he oversaw the Office of Financial and Economic Affairs (BAFE) before serving as director general of the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) from 2012 to 2018. Promoted from commissioner divisional officer to inspector general in September 2012, he also served in the judicial branch of the PNH (DCPJ).

In 2005, Normil headed the Criminal Affairs Bureau (BAC) of the DCPJ and worked at the Central Financial Intelligence Unit (UCREF). 

Normil has returned to a familiar role, bringing with it constant pressure. As the police chief, he has inherited an environment of accelerated increase in acts of banditry and unrelenting gang assaults on institutions and people, particularly in Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite department. The police institution was unable to celebrate its 29th anniversary on June 12 due to the assassination of three agents from the Temporary Anti-Gang Unit (UTAG) by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier’s Viv Ansanm gang coalition.

The recent violence in Haïti’s Artibonite department underscores the daunting challenges Normil faces. On June 7 and 8, another attack was perpetrated in Terre-Neuve and Gros-Morne—two communes of the department, where at least 10 residents were killed, including a pregnant woman nearing labor, one critical injury, and eight homes burned.

End of Frantz Elbé’s reign 

Normil replaces Elbé, who leaves behind a negative record. Several sectors, including PNH unions SPNH-17 and SYNAPOHA. PNH union had accused Elbé of incompetence, lack of leadership, and complicity with gangs. The human rights organizations such as the National Network for Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), had criticized him and had called for his dismissal.

“The results of Elbé at the helm of the police are catastrophic,” Pierre Espérance of RNDDH said. He said the former police chief should be prosecuted.

“He spent his whole time establishing relationships with the gangs, reinforcing the gangs, and preventing cops from doing their job and risking their lives,” he said.

 Since October 2021, when Frantz Elbé assumed leadership, the safety of Haiti’s police officers has been gravely compromised. The tenure of Elbé has been marred by a surge in violence that has left the force in a precarious state. Between October 28, 2021 and June 9, 2024, 120 police officers were murdered—a stark indicator of the escalating crisis. Additionally, during this same tumultuous period, the police institution endured 55 armed assaults, according to a recent report by the National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH).

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