ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore Friday confirmed that foreign investigators have arrived on the island to probe the disappearance of several firearms and ammunition from a police station in the west of the island.
Earlier this month, Blackmoore told a news conference that the government had approached the Trinidad-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) for assistance in probing the theft of the guns and ammunition from the St. Joseph Police Station, west of here.
Police Commissioner Daniel Carbon had said that a total of nine firearms were stolen, including six assault rifles and a quantity of ammunition in a different caliber.
Blackmoore said that among the investigators is a former commissioner of police and that they had been sworn into office and had powers of arrest.
“Let us not sidetrack from this critical investigation,” Blackmoore said, adding that the government is prepared to “let the chips fall where it may.”
The National Security Minister was also critical of a statement issued earlier this week by the Police Welfare Association (PWA) that had been critical of the Commissioner, saying, “I will not support any attempt to undermine the security of the state.”
Blackmoore said that anyone who pushed the PWA to issue the statement, which he described as embarking on a “vicious attack on the Police Commissioner…is doing a disservice to the country”.
In its statement, the PWA said it has “repeatedly appealed to the Police Command to address the existing manpower shortage at the out-district police stations since such a shortage would negatively impact the proficiency and productivity of the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF).”
“Unfortunately, we have witnessed a significant decline in discipline and esprit de corps in the CDPF during the tenure of our current Chief of Police. For example, it is well known that several experienced and competent officers have either resigned or taken early retirement from the force due to what can reasonably be described as
the personal shortcomings of our current Chief of Police,” it said, urging the “responsible authority” to undertake “the necessary arrangements to urgently address the deplorable circumstances concerning the command of the Police Force.”
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