Two neighbourhoods claim police brutality
The Kraal Road and Majestic Alley neighbourhoods are on edge tonight after law enforcement operations this afternoon left some residents questioning the behaviour of police. According to an area resident, she was startled by a gunshot near her house around four this afternoon as police apparently tried to capture a suspect they were chasing. Not wanting to appear on camera, the mother of a young child said she was taken aback by what she saw.
Voice of Witness
?And when I went outside I saw a young man in a blue and white striped shirt ran from behind that house over there with two guns in his hands. And I heard people shouting and saying, you know, you could have shot somebody why you keep shooting around this area. You now, the person was just talking back and forth with them. Then the young man turned around and pointed the gun at a female and told her something. I couldn?t hear what he said. But the young lady said I will stand right here you go ahead you just shoot me, you shoot me. So when I saw that I got so frightened, I ran to the phone and I called 911 and I described the person, I told them there is a young man behind a house on Kraal Road with two guns in his hands and he is in an argument with someone and I saw him going toward the street. I am not sure if he is going to come back because he was still in argument with the people. The person who answered the phone insisted that I give her all the description. I told her it was a dark complexion man, low afro, jeans pants and everything. So when I came off the phone, I noticed the person had come back into the yard with two other Hispanic men, but the other men were dressed a little more formal than he was. So I said the others look like police, why aren?t the police holding this guy. When I realize, after the conversation I was overhearing that this man was a police too. Had two guns and in his hand and had one pointed at this woman at a certain time.?
Residents say they observed the police putting a young man in their vehicle and driving away.
Shortly after the Kraal Road incident, a young man from Majestic Alley visited our studios to report that he had just been on the receiving end of what he called “unnecessary use of police force”. And from the description given by Henry Gillett, it appears that the same officers from the Kraal Road operation were involved.
Henry Gillett, Alleges Police Brutality
?I was through majestic alley sitting down waiting for a guy to finish washing my vehicle. The police officer came about thirty-five miles to forty miles an hour though the alley under speed and swing the vehicle into us to try and knock us down and I said that is not necessary. He jumped out and carry me and told a young boy they call, name ?Cinco? how ?this f***ing a**hole the play watch ah wah doing am when I reach dah station right now?. He put me ina the back of the thing and tell me he will just shoot me in my head. I tell him all of that is not necessary. He haul his gun and he start to beat me in my face until it burst and he burst up my hand with the gun. Then he haul out the fun and he shove it in my head and tell me he will kill me, he hauled the trigger, take out bullet, and he lone the beat me ina my ears corner with the gun.?
Patrick Jones
?Which police officer did this to you??
Henry Gillett
?They call him Palermo. He?s a Spanish decent police officer ina wah silver thing with wah Cayo license plate on it.?
When News 5 contacted Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid he told us that officers had gone to Kraal Road in search of a suspect in the robbery of Provident Bank last week. Reid denies that there was a 911 call as reported by the eyewitness to the incident and accused her, and by extension Channel 5, of feeding the anti-police sentiment in the community. When asked about Gillett’s story, Reid said he is just fed up with all the accusations and hung up the phone.
