Reason for SORT disbanding – Death of murder suspects in custody was final straw

THE Special Operations Response Team (SORT) – the brainchild of ex-police commissioner Gary Griffith which was led by Supt Roger Alexander – was disbanded after the police executive reviewed two files regarding SORT officers' role in the deaths of two men who were detained in relation to the murder of court clerk Andrea Bharatt.

This was confirmed by Acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) Mc Donald Jacob when contacted on Sunday on a newspaper report into the the disbanding of SORT which has been replaced by an entity to be known as the National Operational Task Force (NOTF).

Jacob said while there were plans in play to re-organise some of the 20-plus units within the TTPS, it was only after the two files on the deaths of detainees Andrew "Solo" Morris and Joel Belcon, that a firm executive decision was made to re-organise SORT.

“So what I want to tell you is that after the Police Complaints Authority submitted their findings along with their recommendations, and also intelligence information from our international partners; a decision was made by the executive of the police service in the latter part of the year, to deal with the dismantling and setting up a new entity to continue carrying out some of the work that was done by SORT,” Jacob said.

Asked who the international partners, whose report influenced the executive were, he said he could not say only that they are “international support partners.” Asked what the report was about, Jacob said it was in relation to the deaths of Morris and Belcon.

Both men were deemed suspects in the kidnapping and death of 22-year-old Bharatt. The court clerk disappeared on January 29, 2021 and her body was found in the Heights of Aripo on February 4 of that year.

Both men died while in police custody after they were arrested by SORT on January 31, 2021.

Morris died at hospital the following day and Belcon eight days later. Police claimed both men needed to be “subdued,” while they were being detained. Morris supposedly was “acting violently" when he was arrested while Belcon, police said, tried to escape.

Then CoP Gary Griffith attributed a fall from a chair for the death of one of the men. According to a report in The Newsday, dated February 3, 2021, Griffith said: "The man was in custody and he was offered something to eat by the police but he refused.

"He was placed in a chair when he fell. The officers acted swiftly and took him to the hospital where he died."

Jacob said the police investigations into the deaths of the men is nearing an end, with a file already at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for consideration on possible charges.

Jacob said the decision to form the NOTF was to avoid neglecting the work that SORT was doing.

He added that the organisational structure of the police service was changed so that NOTF will not be directly under the office of the CoP as was the case with the SORT and other units during Griffith's tenure.

Jacob stressed that a major part of SORT’s transition to NOTF was correcting of the organisational structure that places the unit under the administrative head of a Senior Superintendent, who answers to an Assistant Commissioner of Police, who answers to a Deputy Commissioner who answers to the CoP.

Jacob said the new unit will have less manpower as its remit has since been reduced. Citing security concerns, Jacob declined to say exactly how many officers will work in the NOTF.

He said Supt Alexander will remain as the operational head of the NOTF as the unit continues to work. Applicants for the unit will have to undergo all standard requirements including polygraph testing, to be considered.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Griffith accused the police service of telling untruths, claiming that Jacob promised that SORT will not be disbanded. Griffith said the decision must have been politically inspired.

“One very notable result is that SORT was able to stop kidnappings, rescue victims and arrest criminals; but now they have resumed. Additionally, SORT’s role was to provide support for other units within the police service, identifying and supporting the many good officers, and gathering intelligence on the rogue elements.”

Griffith said the dismantling of SORT would negatively impact the morale of the entire service and endanger the lives of some as criminals will once again “be free to infiltrate the TTPS and influence rogue elements without consequence, which all negatively impacts citizens.”

For his part, Jacob said he was not going to respond to Griffith’s claim that the disbanding was politically motivated, adding that he was not a politician. He said interviews are currently ongoing and the restaffing should be completed within the next two weeks.