SOCU to hire more investigators

Apr 11, 2017 News

… Conducting more than 200 investigations
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) will soon have new investigators to help with the more than 200 investigations that it is currently conducting.

Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Sydney James

According to head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Sydney James, the investigators will be drawn from the police force and from among civilians who possess the requisite expertise to help in this regard.
James said that although staffing does not affect the work of the department additional staff will improve the efficiency of his organization. On the question of staffing being a challenge, James said that because many of the investigations are overlapping it’s easy for the investigators to do their work.
“A lot of the forensic audits are interrelated. Sometimes you might take statements that may take you in several directions and consequently several other different investigations.”
Addressing criticisms levelled against the organization, James said that he and his investigators are focused on professional delivery. These same sentiments were proffered by the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, recently.
The SOCU head also pointed out that he was hired by the previous administration in 2014 and he was only doing the job that he was mandated to do. Further, the Assistant Commissioner of Police stated that his organization is not singling out any person or organization but it is simply going where the investigations lead.
Turning to the magnitude of malfeasance that SOCU is looking at James said that while he cannot give an exact figure he was sure it was many billions of dollars.
Responding to the question of if he has ever seen the level of corruption that his organization is currently investigating, James said that he was not going to comment on that issue but he only said that there are copious investigations that are ongoing.
Responding to criticisms of slothfulness of prosecution after interviews would have been conducted. James said that after SOCU would have done its part to investigate and interview suspects; when those files are sent to the relevant authorities for their perusal and decision that is something he has no control of.
On the role that the UK fraud expert Dr. Sam Sittlington played in aiding the work of SOCU, James said that he wanted to make clear that Sittlington’s involvement in Guyana was catered for in a memorandum of understating (MOU) signed in 2014 between the previous administration and the UK government.
James was high in praise for the work that Sittlington did at SOCU. He said that his training and assistance to the staff there were invaluable.

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