PCA wants legal right to access to rogue cops' financial records

WITH a rise in reports against police officers between 2020 and 2021, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) wants to be able to collect and demand financial information about any officer brought to its attention.

In its annual report for October 2020-September 2021, which was laid in Parliament on Monday, director of the PCA David West recommended that several laws should be amended to facilitate this.

West recommended that the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (FIU) Act be amended to allow the Director of the FIU to forward to the PCA any report of suspicious transactions by a police officer.

He also suggested that the Income Tax Act, particularly section 4(2), be amended so that the PCA can be one of the authorised entities to which the Board of Inland Revenue can disclose income tax returns and other financial documents deemed relevant.

West’s third recommendation on the finances of police officers was an amendment to the Miscellaneous Amendments Act, which amended Section 55 of the Financial Institutions Act. This amendment would make the PCA one of the entities mandated by law to receive witness statements from those required to disclose financial information.

The PCA director is asking for the Coroner’s Act to include the PCA as oneof the “interested parties” so it can submit its investigative findings to court. He said currently only evidence from police is admitted into evidence, and with some officers tardy in submitting files that cause undue delays, this will expedite cases.

“Amend the Evidence Act to include the PCA under the definition of 'law enforcement agency' to which the audiovisual recording rules apply. In so doing this addresses any potential issues of inadmissibility of evidence obtained by the PCA by audiovisual means.”

West also asked for the imposition of “a duty on the commissioner to provide a written decision with reasons to the PCA within three months of making a recommendation.”
The final amendment request is to the Special Reserve Police Act, to treat with special reserve police officer misconduct the same as regular police officers."

The 144-page report highlighted that for the second consecutive year both the Central and Northern Division had the most complaints, with each division having 76 reports. The report said the two divisions totalled a third of the overall reports for the year.

In the Central Division the Chaguanas Police Station had the highest reports, with 28 in 2020/2021, and 19 the previous year. Second on the list was Couva, which had ten reports for the reported period and seven the previous year.

The Northern Division saw Arima having the highest number of complaints, compared to 14 the previous year. While Arouca had fewer reports for the 2020/201 period, with 12 compared to 18 previously, it was still the second highest in the division, with St Joseph Police Station coming third. Like Arouca, St Joseph Police Station had fewer reports in the 2020/2021 year, with 12 reports, and 21 the previous year.

Among the officers who had reports against them, two police commissioners were included. The report did not name any officer. There was one complaint brought against a deputy commissioner of police and four against senior superintendents.

According to the report there were 81 more police officers with complaints against them than in the last reporting period. Most of the officers who had issues brought against them were constables. Of the 598 officers ,255 were constables, 218 unknown ranks, 56 sergeants, 35 corporals, 20 inspectors and seven assistant superintendents.

“Two hundred and ninety-two police officers were the subjects of allegations of criminal offences during this reporting period whereas 310 were under investigation for similar criminal offences in the 2019/2020 reporting period.”

While the number of officers accused of criminality decreased, the overall number of reports in the period 2020/2021 increased compared to the previous reporting period. From October 2019-September 2020 there were 396 reports, compared to 467 for October 2020-September 2021.

“Fatal shootings, murder and non-fatal shootings were the three topmost offences for both reporting periods as a total of 115 officers were allegedly implicated in these offences in the 2020/2021 reporting period versus 97 in 2019/2020 reporting period. Misbehaviour in public office was the most notable offence as 145 officers committed this offence in this reporting period, albeit a reduction from 153 officers who were involved in this offence in the 2019/2020 reporting period.”

The report said two officers were accused of rape for this period and one last period while one was accused of having sex with a child under 14 and another of serious indecency.

Of the 437 investigations completed during the reporting period, 336 were closed with no further action, while 45 were forwarded to the Police Commissioner with recommendations for disciplinary proceedings or further action. Nineteen were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions with recommendations to prosecute the officers and seven were sent to both CoP and DPP.