PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -A couple of months after she led a high-profile investigation into allegations of misbehavior in public workplace in opposition to the then commissioner of police, Erla Harewood Christopher, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, intelligence and investigations, Suzette Martin, is now the topic of a police investigation.
In Could, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Gaspard SC, stated there was no proof to cost the then commissioner of police with any offense.
“On this matter, on the evidence, I’m of the view that there isn’t any practical prospect of a conviction for the offense of misbehavior in public workplace or any offense, and accordingly, it could be legally unsuitable to proceed additional,” he stated in a press release.
Newly appointed Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro informed a information convention Monday that whereas Martin stays in her publish, the police are investigating a matter by which a firearms vendor had submitted a report on June 18.
“I might have acquired a report from a firearms vendor in opposition to a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Miss Suzette Martin. That matter was within the public area, and in consequence, I might have taken decisive motion to carry accountability and transparency to the forefront in coping with the matter.
“The firearm vendor would have indicated sure acts have been carried out in opposition to him, and he felt this was bordering on felony conduct.
“I might not need to pronounce on precisely what’s that felony conduct as a result of an investigation is underway, and we might be sure that the investigation when accomplished, will uncover no matter felony conduct exists,” the newly minted high cop informed reporters.
Guevarro stated a call to take away the deputy commissioner or ship her on administrative go away stays throughout the purview of the Police Service Fee (PSC), which has been apprised of the report and the investigation.
He stated that the probe is linked to Martin’s involvement within the 2022 arrest of firearms vendor and coach Brent Thomas in Barbados.
Thomas, 61, was detained whereas awaiting a flight to the US and later charged with three counts of possession of firearms and 4 counts of possession of explosives.
In April 2023, Excessive Court docket choose Devindra Rampersad dominated that Thomas’ arrest, carried out by officers led by Martin, amounted to an “abduction.”
Guevarro stated that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) stays dedicated to its mandate regardless of latest controversy involving its management and that the choice to verify the probe into Martin publicly confirmed the service’s dedication to transparency and accountability.
“I’ve each belief and religion within the investigative group that they’ll be capable to uncover any misgivings that will have occurred or, I ought to say, lend to the misbelief that misgivings will happen,” he stated.
In July final yr, the state formally acknowledged that the detention and return of Thomas to Barbados in 2022 have been illegal.
The admission was made at a listening to on July 24 of the Legal professional Basic’s attraction of a Excessive Court docket choose’s ruling that completely stayed all felony prices in opposition to Thomas, the proprietor of Specialist Shooters Coaching Centre.
