Attorney takes issue with disarming of SSP Cameron following charges

 

 

 

The disarming of Chairman of the Police Officers' Association (POA), Senior Superintendent of Police Wayne Cameron after charges were laid against him has not gone down well with senior attorney Bert Samuels.

 

SSP Cameron was questioned for several hours on Thursday and subsequently charged with five counts of fraudulent conversion and six counts of larceny as a servant.

 

He was offered station bail in the sum of $500,000 to appear before the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court on February 12.

 

Before the ink could dry on the document outlining the charges, officers acting on the instruction of Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake, collected his service pistol. 

 

But Mr. Samuels says the nature of the charges did not warrant such an action. 

 

"For the Commissioner of Police to do this, that is, to disarm a Senior Superintendent of Police, who is not charged for any crime of violence, not charged for anything related to firearms, and leave this crime fighter vulnerable to the criminal elements in Jamaica, is unfortunate. He is not suspended, he is not interdicted. As it stands, he is a serving member of the police force this afternoon, tomorrow, and continuing until the Services Commission chooses otherwise. And for a serving member of the police force to leave the police station disarmed is to put his life at risk," insisted the attorney. 

 

In September last year, Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake ordered that the chairmanship of the Police Officers' Association be vacated. 

 

In court documents, Dr. Blake cited what he described as "glaring contradictions and irregularities" in the association's unaudited accounts, as well as the failure to hold an Annual General Meeting since 2022. 

 

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court granted SSP Cameron leave to seek judicial review in the dispute and blocked the implementation of the commissioner's directives until the dispute is resolved. 

 

That hearing is set for May 19.