Police officers feud; were cops involved in murders
Tonight two top police officers are feuding after one reportedly threatened the other, and that alleged victim filed a report with the Internal Affairs Unit. Just what led to the bad blood is not clear but this evening, Assistant Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie told us the matter is under investigation. Street talk is that it concerns police involvement in the disappearance of two men gone missing: Jermaine Fuentes six years ago and more recently, Anthony Roches.
Allen Whylie, Assistant Commissioner of Police
“I cannot be specific in terms of the report but I can confirm that he has made a report, a formal report which is being investigated and at the conclusion of that investigation it will be sent to the Commissioner of Police who will make the final determination based on its outcome.”
Marion Ali
“But that report has to do with a threat made by another senior officer, Mr. Chester Williams, who allegedly threatened Mr. Broaster in the presence of other police officers, I’m told.”
Allen Whylie
“Well I’ll confirm that that basically dah the gist of the report, yes. You have to understand within an organisation like ours there’s a lot of different personalities and different issues and sometimes these things boil over. We are a professional organisation and we’ll deal with it professionally. We expect officers, in spite of differences, to behave professionally. That’s the way we are taking it.”
Marion Ali
“To you knowledge, is the department trying to get rid of Mr. Williams?”
Allen Whylie
“No, none, none at all.”
Marion Ali
“Or frustrate him out of his job?”
Allen Whylie
“None, none, none at all. Mr. Williams is a hard worker. As I said there are different personalities, there are different ways of doing things but we must be cordial and civil and professional with each other.”
“The bones that were found, we are still trying to identify who they were. To do that DNA would be required because there are suspicions but there’s nothing to confirm whose remains it is. The talk has been made that some officers may be involved. That matter, again, is being pursued. There’s an active investigation going on and so I am not at liberty to disclose any names but we need to remember that all persons including police officers are entitled to the same protection of the law just like any other citizen. So we need to avoid giving the impression that any particular officers are being targeted or that they are the subjects of any. We are treating this investigation like any other investigation that we would treat and we will handle it professionally.”
Marion Ali
“Are those officers still on the job?”
Allen Whylie
“The persons who it is alleged were involved in some incident are still on the job.”
Marion Ali
“It’s four of them? Can you give us a figure?”
Allen Whylie
“I will not confirm the numbers either.”
Marion Ali
“Any of them senior officers?”
Allen Whylie
“Again I will not get into that.”
Marion Ali
“Can you tell us sir, where your investigations have taken you with respect to Mr. Anthony Roches?”
Allen Whylie
“We have not made any progress in the sense of identifying where he is or if he is dead. There is nothing to say he is dead and therefore we remain optimistic. The police have been involved in a number of searches. The family has been involved but so far we have not received any tangible information to assist us in our investigation.”
Marion Ali
“When you say some names were called involving police officers, these names were called by fellow officers or people from the public naming officers?”
Allen Whylie
“Again, I won’t get into how the names were called. Suffice it to say that the names were called and those officers a part of an active investigation.”
Marion Ali
“Isn’t it a conflict of interest when you have a murder which fall under the C.I.B. unit and the report is that the same officers doing the investigation are working out of the C.I.B., isn’t it a conflict of interest?”
Allen Whylie
“Again, we don’t know if a murder has occurred. We don’t know if a murder had occurred.”
Marion Ali
“Well bones were dug up.”
Allen Whylie
“Bones were dug up but again, as we say we don’t know if a murder had occurred.”
Marion Ali
“Police were led there by a police officer to that grave.”
Allen Whylie
“Exactly, but again of course it does not necessarily mean because bones were found a murder was committed.”
Marion Ali
“How else would somebody be buried in a shallow grave …”
Allen Whylie
“That is what we’re trying to find out. That is what we’re trying to find out.”
Marion Ali
“And a police officer know exactly where it is?”
Allen Whylie
“Again, that is what we’re trying to find out. But not because bones were found mean a murder was committed and that is all part of the investigation”
Whylie says the search continues for Anthony Roches who went missing three weeks ago.
