7 COPS SENT ON LEAVE

ELIZABETH GONZALES

and DARREN BAHAW

SEVEN police officers involved in the fatal shooting of three men in Morvant have been sent on leave to quell public disquiet over a perception of possible contamination of the police investigation into the case.

The officers were  served on Tuesday with notices entitled "Administrative leave" and signed by an officer representing the Commissioner of Police. Another 11 officers – also involved in the shooting – have been assigned to desk duty.

The officers are being represented by attorneys Israel Khan, SC, and Ulric Skerritt.

The letters told the seven officers to go on administrative leave immediately for three months in the first instance. "In the circumstances you are to cease to report for duty pending the determination of enquiries resulting from allegations made against you," it said.

The action came after growing concerns about the impartiality of the police investigation being led by an assistant superintendent assigned to the Professional Standards Bureau. A separate investigation is being done by the Police Complaints Authority and the findings will be submitted to the commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Newsday learned that 18 officers were involved in the Morvant operation on June 27, when three jeeploads of police stopped a Nissan Tiida along Juman Drive, Second Caledonia. Video footage from a home security camera showed them driving past the Tiida, which had pulled to the side of the road..

Several officers ran to the car with guns pointed at the occupants. One of the passengers, later identified as Joel Jacobs, emerged from the left back seat with his hands in the air and the driver, Israel Clinton, was also seen with hands in the air. As the third man, identified as Noel Diamond, who suffered from a disability, lowered the right back window, police opened fire, killing all three men.

One officer was seen retrieving what appeared to be spent shells from the ground while another reversed the Tiida, which had rolled forward during the gunfire.

The video surfaced on social media hours after the incident and sparked two days of protest in the capital city and several other areas with many demanding justice over what they claimed was an unjustified police killing.

The officers, who were assigned to the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Guard and Emergency Branch, both based at Aranguez, were on patrol in Morvant, the same district where one of their colleagues, PC Allen Moseley, was shot dead about 12 hours before.

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith said the officers will be removed from active duty – operational and administrative – so that the contents and outcome of the investigation will not be tampered with.

“This is not in any way to be seen as a sign that the officers are being accused or blamed or disciplined for wrongdoings,” Griffith said during a press conference on Tuesday to respond to a call by the PCA to suspend all officers involved.

The PCA, on Monday, formally advised the commissioner to immediately suspend them all, but Griffith maintained that the PCA, an independent body, did not have the authority to make such a recommendation and did not provide any preliminary report to support its position.

PCA director David West offered no comment when asked to respond to the CoP's criticism. But one legal source referred to the legislation governing the powers of the PCA. Section 21(1)(d) says it shall "advise the Police Service and other public authorities on ways in which police corruption and serious police misconduct may be eliminated" as the legal parameter for the body to give such advice.

They pointed out that the suspension of officers leave little or no room for police corruption and serious police misconduct to take place during the investigation.

The PCA has already got the video footage and statements from witnesses and is pressing to complete its probe as quickly as possible.

The PCA said in its statement on Monday that its deputy director Michelle Solomon-Baksh had already briefed DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, on the matter, which it described as "highly sensitive." It said no additional information would be provided since its investigations may be prejudiced.

Griffith said the recommendation to suspend the officers was unprofessional and there is no evidence that  any of the policemen involved breached the law.

“The PCA doesn’t recommend suspensions, they recommend criminal or disciplinary actions. For them to state the type of action they want taken; that is where we have a problem.”

Police Social Service and Welfare Association president Gideon Dickson said the PCA acted unfairly, spurious and was prejudiced against police officers. He said, "The outcome of the PCA investigations is unprofessional, seeing a complete investigation hasn’t been done."