Rural constable praised for work in Georgetown

A rural constable attached to the Georgetown Police Station has been praised for his work in that district.

Marlon Tommy, a rural constable with almost nine years’ experience, had, on January 15, just achieved a conviction in court, when his success was drawn to the attention of SEARCHLIGHT.

“I noticed that they are saying the rural constables are not working,” said prosecutor Delroy Tittle, referring to comments attributed to Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves in an IWitness News story published on January 9, 2018.

“So, I hope that the reporter reports that RC Tommy gained a conviction in court today for theft of citrus, so that they could see that the rural constables are working! Don’t go make statements like that,” Tittle added.

The IWitness News story, headlined: “Rural Constables have failed – Camillo,” quotes the Minister of Finance as saying at a closed-door budget consultation with public sector unions in December, that the rural constable programme was not achieving the results expected of it.

According to the story, based on “a record” obtained by IWitness News, Gonsalves said some of the rural constables are glorified chefs and are kept in the station and asked to do domestic work.

Gonsalves is also reported as saying that the programme would have to be restructured, as some rural constables have not affected an arrest, much less a conviction, in multiple years.

The Minister, however, according to the story, admitted that while some of the rural constables were not performing, others “have been quite good relative to their peers…”

Tommy, who has secured numerous convictions over the years, told SEARCHLIGHT that he hoped the Minister would retract his statements.

“Today I felt joyful for the New Year. Seeing what I read on IWitness, I hope that …[the Minister]… would retract his statements..I know that is not true,” the rural constable said.

The smiling Tommy, who after leaving the courtroom was still receiving praises for his work, gave credit to Inspector Nero for informing him of reports in relation to his work.

He, however, lamented that other police officers do not give him any reports of theft to work on.

There are three rural constables attached to the Georgetown Police Station. (GHJ)