COP report indicates rumour about senior police officer false – PM

Rumours which had been circulating that stolen items had been found in the possession of a senior police officer are untrue.

So said Commissioner of Police Michael Charles in a report which was read in Parliament last Tuesday by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in response to{{more}} a question submitted by Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace.

“Romano Andrews, 21-year-old labourer of Peruvian Vale, Diamond was arrested on the following days for a series of burglaries: Jan 20, 2015, March 6, 2015, June 15 2015, June 16, 2015. A number of exhibits were recovered. None of the items was found in the possession of, or on the premises of any senior police officer,” the Prime Minister read.

“Romano Andrews is currently serving two years at Her Majesty’s Prison for burglary and is also on remand for other pending matters. You may want to ask what Romano Andrews has to do with this. Well the senior officer goes by Andrews and that was the rumour that was being circulated; that the senior police officer was involved somehow with this.”

Gonsalves also noted that he had heard the rumours circulating and spoke with the commissioner as well as officers involved in the investigation.

The Prime Minister also advised that questions such as this could have been answered by a telephone call to him or the commissioner of police, rather than being asked in Parliament.

“This is what the Parliament has come to: unfounded rumours,” he said. “It is amazing how rumour becomes solidified in fact and a request is made in a question to confirm whether stolen goods had been recovered from a senior police officer. When a question is posed like that, Mr Speaker, rather than simply inquiring as to whether reports of stolen goods having been recovered are true or not, they asking to confirm them. In other words, they already know the truth.” (BK)