Linden Commission of Inquiry…ASP Todd escapes sanction

Mar 13, 2013 News

– Snr. Supts. Hicken and Alves are only police casualties

By Dale Andrews

As the dust settles on the Linden Commission of Inquiry report, it would appear that the only police casualties in the entire set-up will remain two Senior Superintendents, Clifton Hicken and Lyndon Alves.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Patrick Todd

This is despite calls from several sections of society for action to be taken against the ranks implicated in the Linden unrest.
Although the Commission found that the Police Force are culpable in the shooting deaths of the three Lindeners during protest action last year, senior police sources have indicated that there are no immediate plans to sanction those officers who were directly involved in the confrontation.
Both Hicken and Alves were relieved of the positions they held prior to the shootings even before the Commission had come up with its findings.
Days after the shooting, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had instructed that Hicken be removed as the Divisional Commander and relegated to the Second in Command in Berbice, a position he holds to this day.
The move was a direct reaction to condemnation of the shootings of protestors in Linden by the police that left Shemroy Bouyea, 24, Ron Somerset, 19, and Ivan Lewis, 46, dead and several persons injured.
Following the fatal shootings, Minister Rohee had directed Commissioner of Police (ag), Leroy Brumell, to make immediate changes at the command level of the E & F Police Division, under which the town of Linden falls.
Opposition political parties and others had also called for the removal of the Police Commander and ranks involved in the fatal shooting.
Alves, who was the head of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), whose ranks had travelled to Linden under the direct command of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Patrick Todd, was removed from his post, shortly after giving testimony before the Commission of Inquiry.
It is widely believed that his removal stemmed from the testimony he gave to the Commission and his subsequent meeting with former Police Commissioner Winston Felix.
Senior Superintendent Alves had stated that he was of the view that the police could have handled the Linden situation better, while calling for the need for the Police to exercise a “softer hand” in dealing with cases of public disorder, and for the Standing Operating Procedures of the riot squad to be reviewed.

Snr. Supt. Lyndon Alves

Alves also caused some controversy following his meeting with Felix, who is now an Opposition Member of Parliament. Some persons in the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force are of the view that he ruffled some feathers when he publicly defended “his constitutional right to affiliation”.
His defence stemmed from reports that he allegedly turned over sensitive information to Felix in a folder.
“I have been accused by morally challenged persons of being associated with former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix, now a Member of Parliament, and engaged in acts intended to destabilize the PPP/C Administration.”
He denied giving any sensitive information to the former Commissioner and explained that the meeting was initiated by Felix, seeking assistance for a ‘Firearm Licence’
“I wish to make it absolutely clear that any affiliation I have with any political party, be it the PPP/C or APNU or otherwise, is entirely my own business and within my Constitutional right of association,” Alves had stated.
“Let it be known that I have always executed my duties free from political or other considerations outside of my professional capacity and I dare anyone to prove otherwise,” the former TSU head declared.
Both Hicken and Alves were previous Guyana Police Force ‘Best Cops’.
But perhaps the biggest winner in the whole Linden scenario is Assistant Superintendent Patrick Todd, who had admitted to the Commission to discharging rounds in the direction of the protestors.
He remains in his position at the Tactical Services Unit despite the findings of the Commission that while it unearthed no direct evidence that any individual ranks shot the protesters, it deemed the Guyana Police Force culpable, since there was no evidence that anyone other than the police ranks were in possession of firearms when protestors and persons in the vicinity were shot.
“Even though Mr. Todd using the shotgun…discharged a round into the ground to take off the velocity, to scare and chase the protestors who were gathered, this was fraught with danger. Discharging a shotgun is hardly the way to ‘scare’ persons and ought never to have been used in the circumstances,” the report stated.
The Guyana Youth and Student Movement (GYSM) was one of the groups that called for action to be taken against Todd. The body had stated that it is the view of many Guyanese that ASP Todd on the fateful day in Linden, was a trigger happy “John Rambo.”
The GYSM had opined that the three deaths and scores of injuries were the direct result of his actions, which the acting Commissioner of Police, Leroy Brumell, on the first day of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) testimony, emphatically stated was unjustified.
“There is currently no talk of any further shake-up of the TSU in the wake of the COI report,” a senior police official told Kaieteur News.
Todd was also linked to the shooting of a group of protestors, including former Chief of Staff Brigadier Edward Collins and Attorney at law James Bond following the 2011 general elections.

Snr. Supt. Clifton Hicken

The Linden Commission of Inquiry began on Monday, September 24, 2012, and concluded on Friday November 2. Scores of witnesses gave evidence before and numerous exhibits were tendered to the five- member Commission, which included Jamaicans Justice Lensley Wolfe and K.D. Knight S.C; Trinidadian Dana Seetahal S.C. and former Guyanese Chancellor Cecil Kennard and Justice Claudette Singh CCH. The report from the Commission was presented to President Donald Ramotar almost two weeks ago.
The findings of the Linden Commission of Inquiry are expected to be a hot topic for discussion, rivaling Police Reform and the recent beatings at Marudi when Police Officers meet for their annual conference starting tomorrow.