President will decide fate of Crime Chief – Ramjattan

…would usurp Police Service Commission’s role

Given that President David Granger appointed the Crime Chief, Lyndon Alves, he will determine the fate of the senior member of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), who is currently on administrative leave, pending an investigation following reports of misconduct.
This disclosure was made by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on the sidelines of an event last week.
“If he is cleared he will come back if he is not well fine. The President, having appointed him, will make certain decisions,” the Minister said, despite the fact that the law states that it is the Police Service Commission that deals with disciplinary issues within the GPF.
The Crime Chief was sent on administrative leave last week after whistleblowers pointed to several alleged corrupt acts he was reportedly a party to while stationed in Berbice.
However, when probed about the status of the investigation, which is being conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), Ramjattan referred the question to the Police Commissioner, Leslie James.
Reports are the Crime Chief was allegedly shielding a few junior rogue ranks who have been linked to criminals among other transactions.
The Minister noted that policemen who are aware of the situation will be giving statements to determine whether or not Alves returns to his job. “We have to take the statements from those police, of course, they will be questioned and of course thereafter legal advice will be sought,” he informed.
Given that the OPR is conducting the investigation, meaning the police is investigating itself, which in itself has raised a number of questions, Ramjattan said, “you do not want to what call a Caricom Commission to come in?”
Further, the Minister said that it is important for such cases to be investigated by the OPR to build confidence. He added that hundreds of cases have been investigated by the OPR before which have all been respected as they were even subject to further analysis. In fact, cases are even sent for legal advice from the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
In the meantime, pending this investigation, the Crime Chief will remain on administrative leave until the investigation wraps up.
Recently, allegations have stemmed against a lance corporal detective in Berbice of the rank being linked to the criminal network in the region.
This was revealed after the rank’s cell phone number was discovered in the phone of now dead criminal Kelvin “Kelly” Shivgobin, who was shot and killed recently in the backlands of Black Bush Polder during a shootout with the police.
It was alleged that the rank was being protected by Alves, who had previously headed the Berbice division.

Handpicks
In August last year, President David Granger, during his search for a new Top Cop, said that he was looking for “unbribable” cops.
On August 29, 2018, President Granger had handpicked five top-ranking officials from the GPF for the top police post, but former acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine had been excluded.
They were Assistant Commissioner of Police Lyndon Alves, Maxine Graham, Leslie James, Nigel Hoppie and Paul Williams.

Independent probe
Last week also the Region Six, the Chairman, David Armogan, had called for an independent probe into the allegations, which he said are causing discomfort among residents and the business community in Berbice.
Furthermore, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Monday last called out President David Granger for his silence on the matter despite being briefed on it. Saying it is perplexed by the Head of State’s reaction, the Opposition called for a wider probe into the matter.
“The PPP wishes to stress that the reports by whistleblowers, published by the local media corps, provide enough justification for a wider probe to be ordered, particularly since what is at stake is public confidence in the leadership of the Force and a test of the commitment to address the issue of corruption,” the party noted in its missive on Monday.