Haitian leaders oust police chief and appoint a new one as gang violence claims officers’ lives

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The beleaguered director of Haiti’s National Police has been ousted following months of criticism that he wasn’t doing enough to protect officers under assault by gangs. Frantz Elbé was replaced by former Haitian police chief Normil Rameau on Saturday. Rameau was dismissed from the post nearly four years ago under a different administration but will once again take the helm of an underfunded and ill-equipped department that only has some 4,000 officers on duty. More than 2,500 people have been killed or injured across Haiti in the first three months of the year as gang violence continues to surge. Among those killed are nearly two dozen police officers.