Handpicked appointments of several CID detectives highly questionable - Whistleblowers

Handpicked appointments of several CID detectives highly questionable – Whistleblowers

Jun 27, 2019 News

Even as Government insists that the police’s internal Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) will be probing a series of shocking allegations of corruption and criminal activities in the force, there are now fresh reports of other irregularities in the police force.
According to senior cops, in recent months several detectives whose track records were less than morally stellar were placed in critical positions at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the various police divisions.
The men are said to be loyal to a senior city-based police official. There is nothing wrong with being loyal, except that quite a few of the detectives appointed were over time under the microscope for wrongdoing, making their selection highly questionable.
For example, one of the men sent to a Region 10 location was accused of sexual misconduct while stationed in Bartica. The act was said to have been committed on a woman.
It appeared that matter was swept under the carpet.
Another detective, posted to Berbice, was investigated for the disappearance of a statement in a murder case back in 2008. It is unclear what came out of that.
On the East Coast, a lead detective sent there had a number of allegations facing him.
He was accused of releasing persons arrested, mostly male teenagers, in return for sexual favours from them.
“You have to understand that there is a pattern here. If the OPR or whoever wants to know, let them check at the CID in each division. If they are looking, they will see the people there and it will paint a picture and tell a story,” a senior police official said this week.
The disclosures have been rocking the force.
It is being alleged that countrywide, junior ranks are pressured to raise money for senior police officials, from kickbacks in traffic offences to protection for businesses.
It was alleged that the detectives who would have been serving well in the respective divisions and familiar with areas, were removed because they would not be likely to “cooperate”.
“Let me explain. The police force has some good people who like what they do. These are young persons who have been sent to other areas, sometimes in other divisions. It is not about a shakeup. It is organised crime. It is about control of certain detectives in critical areas in the divisions.”
The disclosures would continue to raise deep concerns in the force, especially with shocking allegations coming from Berbice in which ranks and officers are accused of working closely with criminals, including the provision of protection.
On Monday, the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, ordered Deputy Commission of Law Enforcement, Lyndon Alves, to proceed on leave, pending an internal probe of the allegations carried in Kaieteur News and Stabroek News.
The accusations were leveled by a number of junior and senior policemen from Berbice and Demerara.

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