Following allegations of gross misconduct: 35 officers sent on immediate ‘leave’

Image by TaranRampersad via Flickr

I have heard this news on the radio and now recovered it from the newspapers too but it is a sad day for Trinidad…

If the allegations are true it will reinforce what many people say about the police here, these people would say it anywhere in the world though.

There are a lot of brilliant, hard-working police officers within TTPS but they sometimes don’t have the equipment, training and support to carry out their duties as they should / could.

Unfortunately the investigation into the officers is being carried out by people who should not be doing it.

The acting CoP has appointed two officers from different departments to investigate, but isn’t it time TTPS had its own internal affairs department?

RBTT the bank has its own, BP and BG both huge organisations have their own internal investigations departments, but the Police hasn’t? Something strange there.

Anyway, here is the story and I look forward to your comments.

35 officers sent on immediate ‘leave’…

THIRTY-FIVE officers assigned to the Repeat Offenders Programme Task Force (ROPTF) were yesterday sent on administrative leave with immediate effect by acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams.

The Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU), headed by Acting Snr Supt John Martinez, was then given full control of the ROPTF. Martinez and Acting ASP Sahadeo Singh, of the Besson Street CID, were then mandated by Williams to conduct a full-scale investigation into allegations of gross misconduct against ROPTF officers.

Speaking with the Express yesterday after the promotion of 79 officers, Williams confirmed a probe had been launched into the allegations, highlighted in an exclusive Sunday Express article over the weekend.

“Any allegations of corruption or serious allegations against police officers are something which we address as a matter of priority,” Williams said.

“The police executive would have addressed the issue surrounding the Repeat Offenders Programme Task Force, and we have in fact launched an investigation, which will in fact be headed by Snr Supt Martinez, with a clear mandate to complete a total audit, assessment and complete investigation in relation to all matters relating to allegations that have been highlighted against the Repeat Offenders Programme Task Force.”

Asked about investigations that were initiated in the past by retired acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert and retired acting deputy Commissioner of Police Gilbert Reyes, regarding allegations of misconduct at the ROPTF, Williams said he had no information on such matters.

Martinez, the man who led a contingent of CIU officers to the St Joseph Police Station last year, where a stash of guns and ammunition and drugs were found hidden in the station’s ceiling, was given a mandate of 30 days to complete the probe and submit it to Williams.

When the Express visited the Besson Street Police Station yesterday, ROPTF officers were seen packing bags with their personal belongings into their personal vehicles.

The latest action came on the heels of allegations against ROPTF officers, a crime-fighting unit in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, made in an investigative piece published in the Sunday Express.

The Express understands that some of the ROPTF officers yesterday refused to hand over sensitive information to CIU officers during the handing-over process upstairs the Besson Street station. The automatic doors to gain access to the building are expected to be changed later today, as a hand-picked team from the CIU starts their probe, the Express was told.

Guns, ammunition, vehicles and other assets used by the unit were seized by CIU officers, but the ROPTF officers were allowed to keep their personally-issued service pistols.

“From captain to cook (from the ROPTF) were sent packing yesterday, and it looks like Mr Williams really serious about regaining public confidence in the police service, and these types of measures are sometimes necessary,” a senior officer told the Express.

Williams described allegations raised against the unit as serious and on Sunday, instructed that the officers meet with him at his office yesterday. During the meeting, a police source said, Williams informed the officers that he was sending them on administrative leave for one month, pending the outcome of the probe into allegations of corruption at the unit.

The Express started a two-month investigation after allegations of gross misconduct against ROPTF officers were made by Laventille residents following the kidnapping of Keon “Guts” Glasgow in April this year. Glasgow, a Laventille resident, was allegedly taken into custody by ROPTF officers, and to date has not been seen or heard.

Residents had staged a fiery protest, demanding that officers, whom they claimed were attached to the ROPTF, say where Glasgow was taken. Some of the allegations suggested that officers assigned to ROPTF were in collusion with and, in some cases, controlled by Port of Spain gangs. It is also alleged that officers from the unit have been fingered in multiple homicides along the East West corridor, and have tipped off known gang leaders about exercises about to be conducted.