Eleven Trinidad cops detained over missing rifle
Eleven North Eastern Division Task Force officers were detained yesterday after a Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS)-issued Galil rifle went missing over the Christmas period.
One sergeant, one corporal and eight constables attached to the San Juan Sub-Station were detained at their homes by the Professional Standards Bureau of the Police Service, acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob confirmed yesterday.
On Christmas Eve an officer is said to have gone to a location in El Socorro where he placed the weapon, with two magazines, and left.
Upon returning sometime later the weapon and ammunition were missing.
Last week Wednesday, officers attached to North Eastern Division Task Force Officers searched a supermarket in El Socorro for the unaccounted weapon.
The Galil rifle was not found, but several persons were questioned CCTV footage from businesses in the area seized.
Jacob said the investigations are on-going and it is being carried out above board.
“Not because officers are involved means that proper questioning and investigations will not take place. Nobody is above the law. We ensure that no cover up takes place within the TTPS,” he said.
Jacob noted that following the completion of the investigation and if there is any wrongdoing by the 11 officers, they will then be taken before the courts to answer the charges.
“Detaining the officers does not necessarily mean that they are going to be charged, so we have to wait on the outcome of the investigation,” Jacob added.