Monday, August 10 2009

Any Police officers caught in wrongdoing in the firearms and narcotics found hidden in the St Joseph Police Station on Saturday will be dealt with swiftly, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Gilbert Reyes.

“We cannot have that in the Police Service,” said Reyes in a phone interview yesterday. Just before midday Saturday, Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) detectives conducted a raid in an office assigned to a senior officer.

There they reportedly found six firearms, including a Beretta pistol and home-made shotgun, hidden in the ceiling of the office.

The CIU officers also recovered a quantity of cocaine and marijuana in a locker room in the building, which had not been logged at the station.

And as the first part of disciplinary action for the illegal items, he said, with immediate effect, all 15 officers from the CID department have been transferred to other stations.

“All the officers will be transferred,” said Reyes. But in an interview yesterday one of the officers on his way out, described the move to relocate the entire CID staff as “unfair”. The police officer, who insisted on anonymity, said there was no evidence on which to transfer the entire CID staff.

“You don’t just transfer somebody without a proper investigation,” he said. He added, “You don’t transfer people without any evidence.

“Everybody has access to that station so why they transferring the CID people alone?” he questioned.

He noted that it was a setback for the CID officers who now stand to lose their “commuted allowance” for working in the CID.

“It is a loss of earnings.”

ASP Martinez has been detailed to spearhead the investigation at the station.