By Marvlin Anthony
The investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by a senior Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) officer is partially complete, Police Commissioner Verne Garde stated this week.
He has sent the files to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“Two of the investigations are completed,” Garde told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, adding that “the investigator continues to be the same investigator who started the process. He submitted the two files through his line of supervision, and he has submitted a recommendation to me.
“He said that he agreed with the recommendations. “I have spoken to his supervisor, and his supervisor also agrees”.In addition, with an “abundance of caution, I have referred the two files to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions so he too will have the opportunity to peruse the files and, of course, to make his necessary recommendations to me.
“The Commissioner stated that as soon as the recommendations are issued, he will contact the press to report on what the DPP (Daasrean Greene) says.There are currently four claims against the senior office, each of which is being investigated individually.The RSLPF, does not have an official sexual harassment policy, however, although one has already been drafted.
“We use the Constitution and the Criminal Code to guide all investigations and these tools are more than adequate to guide us in that regard,” the commissioner stated.”
We’re not going to use… a draft to guide our current situation,” he added.However, he stated, “We did have a meeting of the Steering Committee through the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was the institution doing the pilot… they met about three and a half weeks ago—that was the last meeting for that draft policy, so we should see this policy being brought to official policy within the entire public service.”
It is a policy that is needed.”The senior officer has not been put on leave.He also said, “Unless I think a matter obstructs the administration of the organisation, I will not go in the direction of having persons sent out of the organisation. And the matter is a matter that has been long outstanding; we have investigated the matter relatively cautiously because it’s very sensitive.”
“We need to get some closure, one way or another,” the commissioner said.According to Garde, he has been responsible for making extremely serious recommendations and views, as well as launching very serious investigations; and he is pleased to report that matters that were 15 years old were taken very seriously, and that he was able to bring closure on some of these matters.
Some of the issues, for example, stem from Operation Restore Confidence. Garde said he has closed on some of these cases by sending the files to the Office of the Attorney General for an inquest.”I’ve given direct instructions in regards to sensitive matters with timelines,” Garde said, adding that he had stated this before when he assigned a deadline of 12 days for the inquiry to be completed and the paperwork submitted.
“I am happy that over my eight-month tenure that I am able to bring matters that have pended, in some cases for 14 and 15 years, to fruition”, he said.