Cop who fought against leave, now leaves

Acting Snr Supt John Trim, who was asked by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams on January 11 last year, to give reasons why he should not be sent on pre-retirement leave, began that leave on Monday.

Trim, who was transferred from the Eastern Division last year and moved to the Police Finance branch, along with his colleague acting Senior Supt Simboonath Rajkumar, challenged the acting Commissioner and were both successful before the court.

Sources revealed yesterday that when the acting CoP asked Trim and Rajkumar to give reasons why they should not be sent on pre-retirement, there was a list of other senior officers also scheduled to be sent. But for reasons unknown, the acting CoP discontinued his intended action.

In taking the decision, Williams invoked the Police Service Act of 2006, which states in Part IV, Paragraph 31 (1): “The Commissioner may terminate the appointment of an officer on the grounds of reported inefficiency and having regard to the officer’s job performances and, where applicable, his performance appraisal reports.”

In a letter issued to Trim, Williams identified the reasons: a 28 per cent increase in murders; 32 per cent increase in woundings and shootings; 80 per cent increase in burglaries and break-ins; 69 per cent increase in robberies; 41 per cent increase in general larceny; 55 per cent increase in house larceny; and a 30 per cent overall increase in serious crimes in the Eastern Division under Trim’s command. Shortly afterwards, Trim challenged the decision of the acting CoP to forcefully retire him.