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Police books show no record of five specific armed ranks deployed to Linden

Sep 26, 2012 News

By Zena Henry
According to police records presented to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the July 18 fatal shootings at Linden, of 23 named Tactical Services Unit (TSU) ranks that were deployed to Linden, the names of five officers who uplifted firearms were not recorded as actually being sent to the mining town during the electricity tariffs protest.
Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes during his line of questioning to Police Commissioner (ag) Leroy Brumell, established with the use of police records; “Unit Book” and “Activity Book” that within the Unit Book, 23 TSU ranks were shown for deployment to Linden, but the Activity Book only showed 19 of those ranks actually going to the scene.
According to Commissioner Brumell, the force’s Unit Book is supposed to show the ranks scheduled for Linden and the weapons they uplifted, while the Activity Book would show the ranks who actually went to Linden, the number of the vehicle they left in, and its driver.
Brumell, while both himself and Hughes went through the police records, confirmed that the names of five officers were absent from the Activity Book, although their names were present in the Unit book; the two books are supposed to correspond, Brumell stated.
When asked, the Commissioner said he would verify whether four of those five “phantom names” who received weapons were indeed issued weapons, but went nowhere.
Numerous other issues were raised pertaining to names and numbers being crossed out from the records. Brumell sought to provide clarity for the crossing-out, but later preferred to have the author of the book testify and explain the changes made within the records.
Brumell was also unable to tell the Commissioners – Justice Lensley Wolfe O.J.; Mr. K.D. Knight S.C; Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard, Ms. Dana Seetahal S.C, and former Guyana Court of Appeal Judge, Claudette Singh – when the crossings and changes were made in the record books.
Apart from that, Brumell was again unable to say whether ranks that did not appear in the Activity Book were swabbed by ballistics experts. Commissioner Wolfe later asked Brumell to ascertain whether the weapon numbers that were crossed out in the record book were taken for ballistics testing, since he could not provide the information.
Later, the Police Commissioner confirmed that according to his report, no record was made that the police standing order of briefing police officers on the use of weapons was ever done prior to the deployment to Linden. When reminded that to be a part of the police’s riot squad officers must have at least two years in the force, the Top Cop vouched that all ranks deployed to Linden did have the requisite experience.

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