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| False Report Gets Officer Thrown Off the Force |
| By Sheena Brooks |
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Government Headquarters |
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The Police High Command has confirmed that the police officer involved in an alleged shooting at Government Headquarters in April has been dismissed from the Force for fabricating the details of the incident.
The former cop was on duty at the government head office on Church Street on Friday, April 30th and reported that some person(s) had opened fire on the building.
As stated in a May 1 police press release, “Police responded to a report of shooting which occurred at approximately 11 p.m. at Church Street in the vicinity of Government Headquarters. According to police reports two shots were fired from a vehicle traveling down Church Street and the police on duty at Government Headquarters returned fire.”
Following the April incident credible sources had informed The Observer that the officer on duty had been “playing around” with his gun and had fired off the shot accidentally. Police investigated the report made by said officer, and the ballistics tests conducted on the single bullet casing recovered at the scene and the officer’s service revolver proved to be his undoing.
A police press release issued on Tuesday (July 6) said, in part, “as a result of the investigation, two disciplinary charges were preferred against the officer concerned, namely, making a false statement and discreditable conduct”.
The police officer, the report said, pleaded guilty to both charges, which resulted in his dismissal. The Police High Command (PCH) labelled the officer’s conduct “unacceptable” and issued an apology to the public.
“The Police High Command regrets the occurrence of this incident which created an atmosphere of heightened insecurity in the minds of the public at large and wishes to assure the residents and citizens of the Federation of its commitment to maintain discipline within its ranks and peace and security within all of our communities. The Police High Command hopes that incidents of this nature will not recur and wishes to reinforce its zero tolerance on such acts of ill-discipline which are unacceptable in the Police Force,” the statement said.
The Observer was told that the officer’s surname was Carty, however the PCH declined to reveal his identity on the basis that his dismissal was as a result of internal disciplinary actions and not criminal charges.
A former senior officer spoke with The Observer and said the High Command had done the correct thing in firing the officer.
“Some persons may say it was not intentional and no one was hurt, but when you take into context him concocting an elaborate tale over an incident that may have just gotten him a slap on the wrist, the High Command did the right thing. His lies resulted in police wasting their time looking for non-existing gunmen and had the citizens thinking criminals were attacking the highest order in the land. It also challenged the credibility of police and their reports. People have to be able to believe what police said happened is really how it went down,” said the former officer. |
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