Source accuses police force of double standards

Is there a double A standard when it comes to disciplining officers within the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVPF)?

A member of the constabulary who anonymously spoke to SEARCHLIGHT of scenarios that spell inconsistencies when senior officers are forced to make decisions on charging officers suspected of doing wrong strongly believes this is the case.{{more}}

According to the source, some officers receive a mere ‘slap on the wrist’ while others are dragged before the court.

However, when contacted, a number of senior police officers of the RSVPF refuted allegations of favouritism and inconsistency in disciplining.

“I don’t know about that, once it comes to our attention that a police officer is accused of wrong doing an investigation is launched and the outcome of that investigation will decide what action the Commissioner of Police will take,” Commissioner of Police (COP) Michael Charles told SEARCHLIGHT during an interview last week.

Charles added that there is speculation that once an officer is involved in wrong doing, the police is very lenient, but that is not the case.

“If we look back to the records you’ll see that is far from the truth,” stressed COP Charles who used the recent case of PC Elron Lewis.

PC Lewis, was recently suspended, arrested, charged and taken before the Serious Offences Court where he was convicted for receiving stolen goods. PC Lewis, a traffic cop, is currently awaiting trial for a number of charges of deception, relating to selling licenses.

“The reason why he’s still on suspension is because he appealed the matter, so until the appeal comes off that’s how it is,” Charles explained while adding that Lewis is currently on half-month pay and was already on suspension when allegations surfaced about the sale of licenses and additional charges were laid against him.

Charles revealed that there are three other officers who were put on suspension after being charged, two of whom have since returned to work.

“They were charged and taken to court, two of them are back on the job now because their matters were dismissed,” said Charles who added that he believes one matter was appealed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Collin Williams.

The Commissioner reiterated that to say there is leniency towards officers that have done wrong is far from the truth,

stating, “as a matter of fact this Commissioner is accused of taking police officers to court, so that is not true at all.”

However, the anonymous source alleged that between 2010 and 2016, there were a number of instances where officers protected other officers by transferring them from their postings or dismissed them instead of charging them and allowing the court to decide their fate.

The source, who went on to give examples, alleges that stolen goods were found in the home of a senior police officer last year after a number of break-ins in the Marriaqua area. The source informs that the matter was widely discussed on social media site Facebook and discussed in parliament.

The Commissioner, however, strongly refuted this, stating “Where they say stolen goods were found in an officer’s home, that’s far from the truth. That was a big issue that the Opposition Leader took to the House, where they say stolen goods were found in a senior officer’s home… nothing like that!”

Citing more examples, the source alleged that around 2010/2012 officers were found stealing parts from a vehicle parked on a police compound and weren’t charged, but instead, dismissed from the force.

The COP’s response to this was, “Do you consider a person being dismissed as a slap on the wrist?”

This source further alleges that in 2015, a police officer that was responsible for carrying money from a Lotto booth at Heritage Square, within a period of time stole up to $60,000, and instead of being charged, “they say that officers of high rank asked the individual in charge of the booth to allow the corporal to repay the money. It is alleged that he is still paying back presently”.

When questioned about that matter, Charles replied, “I know nothing about that…I could only talk from 2013 to present and those things … it is nonsense. If an officer has such information… bring it to the Commissioner. If persons are giving the media information they must be truthful, because this information can be checked, they can be checked and you will know that the person who gave you, is a mischief-maker”.

The Commissioner acknowledged that the accusations were indeed serious, paying specific attention to the claim that stolen goods were found in an officer’s home, “it’s nothing like that, absolutely nothing like that.”

Lastly, the source alleged that a police officer, impregnated a teenager under 15 and when the child’s mother reported the matter, she was asked to make it up with the police officer.

The commissioner also refuted this, “if that were so it would not be kept silent”.

The Chairman of the Police Welfare Association, Inspector Trevor Bailey, also weighed in on the topic, agreeing with the Commissioner.

“I in no way condone the issue of crime… the laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines covers every citizen, the society expects us, as police officers to be above and beyond the ordinary citizen as law enforcement officers, and as persons who enforce the law we would expect that the enforcers are themselves upright, so I am, in no way, condoning crime,” Bailey stated.

He disclosed that the Commissioner and general leadership of the organization has the authority to impose penalities, as the laws of SVG gives the Commissioner similar powers within the Force as are given to the DPP or Magistrates.

Bailey explained that when a matter of a criminal nature occurs where a police officer is involved, once the investigation is done, the file is sent to the office of the DPP for his direction and most times it is the DPP’s advice the leadership of the organization follows.

“So I don’t think that they pick out to say I’ll give officer X a break and I’ll prosecute officer Y,” he reiterated while stressing that apart from the laws that govern St Vincent and the Grenadines, police officers are also governed by the Police Act.

“Under the Police Act, there are several offences as a police officer we can commit within the organization, now if we commit any of these offences, we are subject to discipline internally,” Inspector Bailey explained. He disclosed that officers are sometimes taken to an internal court called the “orderly room” where it could be recommended that the officer be fined up to $250 for a particular offence. This recommendation then goes to the Commissioner of Police who “has the final determination of any matter of internal discipline”.

“When it reaches the Commissioner he can either alter the recommendation or endorse it. He could say, ‘well I think $250 is too severe’ and charge $100 or he may say ‘I think that the nature of this offence $250 is not enough punishment’, so he can dismiss you from the organization”, Inspector Bailey stated, adding that the Commissioner can also confine an officer who is being disciplined to the station for up to 21 days.

“Additionally”, said the Inspector, “he can order that he be kept in a cell for a specific period of time, all those are options available to the Commissioner of Police”

Inspector Bailey said that when officers were stealing parts from the vehicle, the then Commissioner dismissed the officers, an option that is open to him. He added that it is possible that the then Commissioner, thought that the matter, if taken to court, would have resulted in the officers keeping their jobs. The seasoned officer also dismissed the allegation that an officer stole up to $60,000 from the lotto booth stating, “That one to me is shocking, it is shocking, because I as the Chairman of the Police Welfare Association, I am not aware that an officer did such thing.

“I am not aware that such a report was made to the police. I am not saying that is was not but it has never crossed my desk, it has never reached me and I am appalled to hear such an allegation is out there that an officer over a period of time stole that amount of monies,”

Inspector Bailey said he heard the allegations “bantered about” in the media houses but “as law enforcement officers we have to be upright and we will not want to put ourselves and the organization is disrepute”.

With regard to the allegation of the impregnation of an underage woman, Inspector Bailey expressed shock and disapproval.

“Those are some shocking revelations and I tell you as a father, and as a police officer, one of the offences that really comes home to me is where an adult males take advantage of young girls. I know I will never in my police career, condone or cover up such offences. I believe that if those offences are committed that the perpetrators should feel the full weight of the judicial system in St Vincent and the Grenadines but I cannot speak with any certainty. I’m now hearing this for the first time. I would like to say plainly that I believe the leadership of the organization will cause an investigation to commence into this and if this is the case, that person will be prosecuted”.

Inspector Bailey said he does not believe that the organization will try to cover up offences “the organization is not in the habit of doing these sorts of things.”

Assistant Superintendent of Police and Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Ruth Jacobs agreed with both senior officers, stating that the offences might not be the same but the procedures are.

Jacobs encouraged police officers to stand by the oath of the RSVPF and be loyal to themselves, the organization and the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“…you take an oath to serve the people and to do it without favour and affection and without malice or ill will and I believe you should stand by your oath. I believe too that you must do what is right, because if you do what is right you have nobody to fear, but if you not doing what is right, you have to realize that there are consequences to your action so my encouragement is for officers to follow the right path and do the right thing”, stressed Jacobs.

Currently, a number of officers are before the court, charged with various offences. Police Constable Orthwell ‘OB’ John, an officer attached to the Special Patrol Unit is charged for the unlawful discharge of his firearm and the wounding of Kevin Neil of Penniston. John has been suspended from police duty on half-pay, pending the outcome of the trial.

Previously mentioned Police Constable Elron Lewis faces 30 charges of deception relating to the illegal sale of licenses between March 1, 2013 and November 23, 2015, he is expected to reappear before the court of June 14 this year.

Constable Mayon Spring was last Friday convicted to three years imprisonment after he was found guilty of corruptly obtaining 2.5 rounds of 5.56 ammunition for himself between November 27 and 29, 2015, theft and conspiracy to steal the ammunition.

On February 2 2010 Corporal Kasankie Quow and Constables Osrick James and Hadley Ballantyne were each found guilty for assaulting Jemark ‘Parch Nuts’ Jackson on November 18,2008 at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

The officers were ordered to pay $1,500 each in one month, or spend six months in prison.

According to an article published by SEARCHLIGHT dated February 5, 2010, on the day of the incident, Jackson was beaten with a hose by Quow and slammed on the floor three times by James and Ballantyne while in the general office at CID. Jackson was later taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where he was placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was in a coma for seven days.(AS)