Compol Says Help Was Provided to Officer Who Appeared Intoxicated in Video

On Monday a video was posted on social media of a uniformed Policeman being led into a police station by his fellow police colleagues, suggesting that the officer was under the influence of alcohol. The Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, learned of the matter and told the media on Wednesday that essentially, the officer’s fate hangs in the balance.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

Chester Williams

“I did see the video and again, I must say that it’s somewhat embarrassing. The police officer in question – I know the public will say that we need to do more for our officers etc., but the truth is we’re all big men and women and once we join this department it’s because we are of age. We are considered adults. And the particular police officer in question, we have bent backwards like an invertebrate to accommodate him, even to the extent of sending him to rehabilitation. I was shocked to see that despite all the efforts that we have made, that he is still like this. I’m not going to say much because the matter will go before a tribunal, and I don’t want what I have to say affect the outcome of that tribunal. But I’m going to yield at the end of the day to the decision of the adjudicator who will hear that matter. We have a counseling program through the EPA, the Employ Assistance Program that comes through the Ministry of the Public Service. In addition to that, recently we had Ms. Anne Cuvas donate her time freely to come in and we gathered a number of police officers who we believe are going through some stressful situations and may require some degree of counseling and stuff and she had sessions with our officers cross the country, free of cost. That police officer was also a part of those sessions. In addition to that, when Police Officers need to go to rehabilitation, we would facilitate them the time with full pay to go through rehabilitation. But there’s only so much we can do. They themselves need to do their part to ensure that they recover in a way that they’ll not regress to where they used to be.”