Divisional Commander denies harassment by Regional Chairman
After news broke that ranks at Linden are being threatened and harassed by Region 10 Chairman, Renis Morian, Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud and the Minister of Presidency, Joseph Harmon visited the region to address the issue.
During the meeting, Divisional Commander, Fizal Karimbaksh and Morian both denied allegations that the chairman would threaten ranks stationed at the McKenzie Police Station if they do not comply with his orders.
Additionally, both Karimbaksh and the Morian have denied that in his capacity as chairman, Morian would overstep his boundaries and intervene in police matters. When contacted, Harmon said that the story published by Kaieteur News was a fake one, since the commander and the chairman denied that such incidents took place there.
However, this newspaper has in its possession a video recording in which the chairman collected the micro phone from a DJ at the Bayrock ground and told a crowd on the morning of March 26, last that he was the ‘boss’ of the region and that the police cannot stop the music there. Also, there are reports that Morian threatened that he will get the entire town of Linden to come out and stage a protest if the police there disobey him and if this doesn’t work, he will have ranks transferred like he did to the previous Commander, Calvin Brutus.
Brutus had allegedly arrested one of his associates. However, ranks at the station believe that the division will be better served with a much tougher commander who can stand up to Morian’s influences. At least two ranks revealed that they are prepared to pen an anonymous letter to the Commissioner about the issues in the region; since they fear victimization should they speak openly to Commissioner Persaud.
“The commander is scared of this man. He (Morian) says he has power in Linden and he is the boss and people got to follow him. Sometimes, we don’t know what cases to investigate and what to leave alone,” a police rank said. He alleged that the chairman would brag to police ranks that he got the previous commander transferred with just one phone call and can do it again.
“Imagine, if the commander is scared what do you think happens to junior ranks. It’s like the police stations in Linden are run by the chairman,” the rank said. He added: “You will see, this article will be published and he (Morian) is going to make the commander say this is not true, but all the ranks in the station know what goes on here. The commander is just trying to play it safe until they (Force) move him.”
The rank added that the commander is someone who does not like conflict and as such, he obeys the chairman since he is worried about his position. (Kaieteur News)