Former SWAT head ordered on leave -questions raised over why he was singled out

May 25, 2018 News

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Deputy Superintendent of Police and former head of the SWAT unit, Motie Dookie, has been sent off on administrative leave effective Tuesday, with full pay, but there are questions over the circumstances of that decision.
Dookie was the subject of police investigations after he was nabbed on December 30, last year, with 30 cases of Johnny Walker whiskey, in a minibus that was stopped by police, on the Corentyne coast, East Berbice.
After then, he was reassigned to a sub-division with the police ‘A’ Division, Georgetown/East Bank Demerara.
There were no reported charges or whether the Guyana Revenue Authority acted on the case.
What is known, though, is that according to a letter dated May 21, Minister with responsibility for Citizenship, Winston Felix, directed that Dookie be sent on special leave.
Felix at the time was performing the duties of Minister of Public Security. Khemraj Ramjattan, was out of the jurisdiction.
Minister Felix, in performing the duties, reportedly instructed the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Danielle McCalmon, to take the necessary actions.
According to Felix, yesterday, in confirming the decision, having Dookie around while the issue was hanging over his head and him being in a position of authority, sends the wrong message to the junior ranks whom he had to preside over.
Felix said that at the time of the arrest, Dookie not only left the jurisdiction but was caught with contraband.

In effect, the transfer was seen by junior ranks as a promotion. Miniser Feix said that it appeared to the junior ranks that Dookie was being rewarded for his indiscretion. This is contrary to the office and “inimical” to the office, the Minister said.
According to Felix, he saw people making a comparison to another case, involving another head of SWAT, Deputy Superintendent Lonsdale Withrite.
Withrite was robbed at gun point of his service revolver and vehicle- the revolver contained 16 live rounds—while he was on a tryst on the seawalls.
The officer was at the Industry seawall with a female when he was robbed last year.
It is difficult how the two cases could be compared, Felix said.
Minister Felix said that the Police Commissioner (ag), David Ramnarine, should have dealt with the matter instead of it reaching this stage and landing on the lap of Minister Ramjattan.

Dookie, while on special leave, will continue to receive his full pay.
However, Felix may have erred. According to police regulations, in cases of sending officers on leave, the Police Service Commission is the body that has the authority to act.
However, the problem is that there is no Commission, with the life of the last one expired and new one yet to be named.
The absence of the Commission has held in limbo the promotions in the police force.
Yesterday, Minister Ramjattan admitted that a decision was taken while he was overseas.
He declined to answer questions whether the Police Service Commission should have been the body to make the decision.
He also declined to comment on complaints by ranks that the decision is suspicious in light of the fact that there are other officers who are facing more egregious offences but who were not targeted.
Tightlipped, he only said, “I can only tell you I saw the correspondence that he was sent on leave.”
On Sunday, a stinging letter to the Editor in Kaieteur News, under the headline, ‘Why is Motie Dookie being targeted?’ raised troubling questions.
The author, Priya Persaud, questioned whether Withrite placed the nation at a great risk when he lost his gun during a seawall robbery.
“The revolver which was stolen is currently being used for the numerous robberies that are currently taking place. What is worse? Robberies/deaths of innocent or tax evasion? Why aren’t concerns being raised about Mr. Withrite’s matter and the urgency of the Police Service Commission to look at his case?”
The writer asked why Dookie is being targeted.

“Isn’t this victimization? There are dozens of senior officers who have severe allegations or charges against them that need to be addressed by the Police Service Commission. Is Mr. Dookie special or is his case that important that it needs to be addressed urgently?”
The senior cop’s removal from the SWAT last year would have come less than a week after the Head of the Police’s Narcotics Department, Wayne DeHearte was transferred to Berbice because a quantity of cocaine disappeared from his office.
Almost two kilos of cocaine disappeared from the safe area that was accessible through the Eve Leary office of DeHearte.
There are several other such cases with officers still in the force but nothing is being done about them.
“The haste in this decision on Monday when the Minister was out and in the absence of a constituted Police Service Commission which should have been the one to make the decision is highly suspicious and smacks of a lot of things that one can conclude,” a senior police official pointed out yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

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