Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams yesterday suspended secretary of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Insp Michael Seales for apparently talking out of turn and bringing the service into disrepute but he says he did so with a clean heart.
Williams suspended Seales from duty one day after he said on a television talk show that Government was attempting to provoke the police so that a state of emergency could be declared in order to delay the September 7 general election.
A full-scale probe has also been ordered into the comments made by Seales and Assistant Commissioner of Police Deodath Dulalchan has been appointed to conduct the investigation.
In a brief interview yesterday, Williams said he ordered the suspension after a lot of careful consideration.
In defending his decision, Williams said: “I stay on the side of being conservative. I am not a radical.”
A release from the Police Service yesterday said Seales’ suspension arose as a result of an allegation of serious misconduct.
Seales had also claimed the Government was using the current wage negotiations with the Police Service to frustrate officers and to force them to react so there would be a reason to call a state of emergency.
“The fact is that the intelligence coming to us at the association is that there is a concerted effort to bring a situation about that they provoke the membership of the Police Service so that the membership will react outwardly,” Seales had said.
But urging officers not to be “duped” by the ploy, he added: “And so let me say publicly and appeal to the membership: Please do not be duped into doing anything foolish because the reason why we are saying that is because we are hearing that there is a position to provoke the police so they can call a state of emergency to delay the election.”
He had made the statements while he and the association’s president, Insp Anand Ramesar, were guests on TV6’s Morning Edition with host Fazeer Mohammed.
On Wednesday, the association suddenly cancelled a press conference which it had called earlier in the day to deal with salary negotiations with the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) for the period 2011 to 2013. The media was given no explanation for the sudden cancellation.
Pressed then for a comment, Seales only said that “circumstances changed suddenly.”
The sudden cancellation comes just two days after CPO Stephanie Lewis had cancelled her weekly Tuesday morning meeting with the association, saying she had nothing new to offer them beyond her 14 per cent proposed wage increase.
Calls to Seales’ phone went unanswered yesterday.
Griffith shows support
Interim Political Leader of the Alliance of Independents (AOI) Gary Griffith has thrown his full support behind acting Commissioner Stephen Williams, commending him on his decision to suspend Seales for what the AOI described as an irresponsible and reckless statement.
Griffith said Seales’ statement was a continuation of a series of “imprudent acts and public statements” made by a few representatives of the Police Social and Welfare Association which had done little to foster and develop a stronger bond between the public and members of the Police Service.
“These statements come on the heels of the 'Day of Total Policing,' which caused undue hardship to thousands of citizens and a virtual shutdown of the main arteries of the capital,” Griffith said.
“Whilst we recognise and understand the role of the Police Social and Welfare Association, we must be aware that a firm and decisive line must be drawn between what is considered responsible and irresponsible behaviour.”
He added that responsible behaviour was even more important by those who were charged with upholding the law.
“Further, the constant public interrogation of the Commissioner of Police only adds to the perception of an undermining of his authority and adds to the already challenging issues of public confidence,” Griffith said.
One of the roles of the Police Service, he added, was to ensure a sense of calm and stability among the population.
But Griffith said a representative of the association suggesting he has intelligence a state of emergency could be pending as an attempt to stall a constitutional general election had done just the opposite of the role of maintaining order.
“And hence this statement must be condemned at the highest level and the person who made such a dangerous allegation, which equates to a sitting Government attempting to affect our democracy, must immediately submit any shred of evidence to justify this allegation,” Griffith added.