Supt. Gualberto Garcia Stripped of Adjudicator Post

Supt. Gualberto Garcia

Corporal Kent Martinez remains on interdiction, having been arraigned on a charge of manslaughter by negligence for the shooting death of Allyson Major Junior which occurred on July sixteenth. Despite being removed from active duty, the sidelined policeman is still representing fellow officers before the department’s disciplinary tribunal. Sitting on the tribunal as an adjudicator was Superintendent Gualberto Garcia, who was stripped of that post last Friday by the Commissioner of Police. Garcia’s power to pass judgment on internal matters within the department was rescinded when he failed to adhere to a directive handed down by ComPol Chester Williams in respect of Corporal Martinez’s eligibility to defend other colleagues being brought before the tribunal. Despite Martinez’s fitness, Superintendent Garcia disqualified the officer, defying the ComPol’s instructions. On August sixteenth, a memorandum was issued by the department rescinding Garcia’s powers with immediate effect. In the aftermath of that decision, there has been some troublemaking. This afternoon, the Commissioner of Police cleared the air on the matter.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

Chester Williams

“I stick to the fact that it is about mischief because Mr. Garcia is fully aware of the reason why his authority to adjudicate was taken away.  As a police department, we have a responsibility to ensure that we keep our officers in line.  We are a disciplined organization.  The public from time to time comes to us with complaints and one of the greatest challenge that we have is that the public sees us as being incompetent to deal with our own.  Over the past few months we have been monitoring a practice with Mr. Garcia, in the sense that whenever police officers who are accused of committing a disciplinary infraction are taken before him that even in circumstances where they plead guilty or after a trial they are found guilty the sentence he demits is either reprimand or warning letter and after he has issued those sentences there is no follow up to say well the officer gets a letter of reprimand on his file to reflect.  Nothing is done to follow up.  So at the end of the day the officer’s records remains clean.  Now can you imagine you having been aggrieved by the police, you make a complaint and the officer against whom you make the complaint goes before the tribunal and because the adjudicator sees it fit or for his own aggrandizement just slaps the officer on his wrist and he goes about his business.  How are you going to feel as the aggrieved person.”