Three Persons Placed On Leave Pending Investigation Findings

The news of the tragedy spread like wildfire across social media as families and friends of Arnold, Carlos and McKoy expressed outrage at the senseless loss of life. Residents are placed in the care of these facilities for rehabilitation purposes and it is not expected that they would be mistreated, much less die. The tragedy highlights a breach of protocols and lack of proper security measures to safeguard the wellbeing of the residents. That question was posed today to the authorities.

Starla Bradley, Director, Community Rehabilitation Dept.

Starla Bradley

“Those are some of the questions we have and we are still trying to sort through what exactly happened. Was it a case of the lock being faulty? Was it a case of not being able to locate the key? Was it that nerves and the issue of the smoke played into the difficulties opening? We have so many questions that we are still trying to figure out at this time.”

Reporter

“Obviously one of the girls had something to start a fire and obviously she smuggled it in there. Do you know the details of that and was there a breakdown in search procedures that enabled her to go inside with that?”

Starla Bradley

“That is exactly the question and quite possibly so because that is considered contraband. They should never have that kind of equipment. They should have been searched upon entering; thoroughly searched by a female officer and along the lines, there are some things that did not follow procedure and that is what we are trying to ascertain. Where along the lines who should have done what and where that fell through. What we are trying to determine, I believe it is not just that day. It started from the day before. Our questions are whether or not proper procedures were followed after children abscond; there are specific protocols in place that should be followed. And so we have to step all the way back to the day before; when they returned, were those protocols followed: protocols for search, protocols for separation. And so we are in the process of trying to figure out the sequence of events and where that went wrong.”

Reporter

“That being the case, has anyone been placed on suspension?”

Judith Alpuche

Judith Alpuche, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation & Poverty Alleviation

“There are three people who have been placed on administrative leave in the first instance based pending the investigation.”