The two senior police officers who have been told to take early retirement because they “have not made any significant contribution towards the Police Service improving its performance in 2016” say they are being sacrificed by their boss on the political altar.
At a press conference held at the office of attorney Gerald Ramdeen, who is representing both senior superintendents Simbonath Rajkumar and John Trim, the men through their attorneys said they are being used as scapegoats to show that acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams is doing all he can to address crime. Ramdeen said that both men and other divisional commanders faced the National Security Council, led by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. This had never been done before.
“This action by Mr Stephen Williams, my client consider it to be unlawful, unconstitutional and a breach of the Police Service Act. We are of the view what has been done is that the acting Commissioner of Police sought to terminate the officers because Williams is under pressure” Ramdeen stated.
Ramdeen said prior to being summoned to a meeting on Monday by Williams, both men were each given an approval rating of “outstanding” by their immediate supervisors who signed their appraisal forms indicating such. He questioned Williams’ rationale in ordering the men to retire, three years before time, since there are other divisional heads and according to statistics from the police service, other divisions that achieved less last year when compared to 2015 and less than what the two men achieved.
According to the letters, both men were accused of failing to address serious crimes in their respective divisions. In the case of Rajkumar, Ramdeen question why Williams chose him given that he was only in charge of the Northern Division for half of 2016 before being shuffled to head the Inter-Agency Task Force. He said Williams’ rationale was procedurally improper, illegal, unconstitutional, unlawful and unreasonable for both officers.
In the case of Trim, Ramdeen reiterated that for 2016, Trim as head of the Eastern Division, had the highest detection rate of all nine divisions with 45 per cent. He stated that member of the ruling party have been muttering about the increase in detection rate for the police service and now with an officer exceeding the mandate, the reward is to be sent home early. Ramdeen said in accordance with the letter, which stated that the men had seven days to respond in writing, his clients will do so, only when Williams submit to them all the factors he used to send them home since in his dismissal letter he indicated that their performance improvement was not all he used to assess the men. Failure by Williams to do so will be met with a High Court battle, Ramdeen threatened adding he had already been instructed to do so and Williams will not receive any further warning.