Griffith ready to resume work but Hinds tells him to stay home

Former Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has been ordered not to resume work by the Minister of National Security.

Reliable sources said on Friday Griffith, who had been appointed to act as CoP by the Police Service Commission (PSC) after his three-year contract ended in mid-August, returned from his almost two-week vacation in the US and informed the line minister that he was ready to resume duty.

But sources close to Griffith said National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds instructed him to stay at home.

A message sent to Hinds seeking comment was not acknowledged.

Allegations of a bribes-for-gun-licences scandal are currently under investigation.

On Thursday, Griffith issued his first public statement in the wake of published reports about an enquiry reportedly done at the behest of the National Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, and a separate enquiry by retired Justice of Appeal Stanley John, instituted by the PSC. The enquiries are looking into claims of impropriety and corruption in granting firearm user's licences.

Griffith claimed the enquiries were fuelled by "detractors and defenders of criminal elements, both inside and outside the police service" in an attempt to affect the process of selecting a police commissioner.

He wrote: "The hatred and fear for (sic) my return by some is mind boggling, and they have put it as their mission to do all they can to prevent it. There is even a 'gundelero' who complains to others about persons getting too many firearms, including 5.56 ammunition, but they only voiced these concerns after they applied and acquired several firearms themselves, exposing their own hypocrisy because, they have multiple firearms and 5.56 ammunition."

He claimed "the last-ditch attempt" to discredit him has been to use a report to write a series of articles drawing on a confidential report which was not based on any facts.

Griffith said he was confident that at the end of the day the allegations would prove baseless, and believed he was the most suitable and competent candidate to be appointed CoP.