‘Don’t mess with Nicole’

Police Commissioner Gary Griffith yesterday sent out a strong warning to the person who issued a death threat to him and his wife Nicole.

The person called the police command centre threatening to harm the couple. Commissioner Griffith said: “As to the threats to my wife, they obviously do not know her. They will have a better chance coming behind me than her.”

A defiant Griffith was responding to a death threat made to the E999 Command Centre around 1.30 am yesterday in which a male caller, whose number is known to the police, said, “I want to summon Gary Griffith for defamation of character against me tomorrow in court, or else I will call him and chop off he (expletive) mother (expletive) head. How you like that? And kill he wife Nicole Dyer... her mother (expletive)”.

Newsday contacted the Commissioner’s wife, who also had a message for the criminal elements.

Dyer-Griffith said, “I have no feelings about this. It is par for the course. It is obvious that he is ruffling feathers, and as a result you will have these types of reaction. However, I do not waste time speaking,”

Newsday asked her what the Commissioner meant by his statement to the criminals, “Don’t mess with Nicole.”

She said, “He knows me well enough to know exactly what he means by that.”

Griffith said he expected the threats and believes there will be more, but reminded those making the threats that they will not faze him in any way in dealing with crime and striking back.

“This is the case in similar situations worldwide. In pegging back criminal elements in the underworld, there would be the expected frustration by these individuals.

“If they see that illegal drugs and weapons they are bringing into the country are being seized on a regular basis, hundreds more being arrested and their product of opportunity is now diminishing, (and) I am greatly affecting their greatly thriving business.”

He added. “I do not know if they expect with these senseless threats. if it would have made me stop my objective which is putting an end to their illegal trade.

“Instead it does the opposite: it strengthens my resolve to weed out the criminal elements in this country. I will not expect such criminal elements to support me, inclusive of those who defend them.

“The fact, however, is I do not want their support. What I want to do is put them behind bars.”

Asked by Newsday if he was aware of information circulating both in the underworld and among his charges that a $2 million hit has been put on him, Griffith said he was aware of talk making the rounds, but reiterated that while he is aware of an attempt to neutralise him, it will not stop him from forging ahead with his plans to destabilise criminal elements.

“Criminal elements, gang warfare, illegal drugs, illegal weapons being smuggled into the country and those involved in white-collar crime – it is obvious what I am doing is affecting their business, and as a criminal entrepreneur they will obviously want to neutralise me. That is what this is all about. What it would mean, obviously, is I am doing what is required.”

On October 28 a video circulating on social media showed several men armed with automatic weapons firing shots in the sky with a caption which read “We coming Mr Gray Griffith, hope you are ready for the war, just remember what your officer do my cousin”.

Police last night held a 35-year-old Gasparillo man in connection with the threat.