Police Commissioner Gary Griffith has warned officers that they could face suspensions, or face charges of being non compliant, if they do not extend their full co-operation to the foreign investigators who have been hired, to assist in the investigation into the $22 million DSS scandal.
Griffith, who spoke to the Newsday prior to departing on his vacation on Friday, admitted that he himself encountered some difficulty in supervising the DSS probe due to “continued interference” and hoped the assistance of foreign investigators would resolve the matter.
Griffith said: “If it is there is any decision that is made and persons are deliberately trying to interfere with this investigation more people will be suspended and if not, charges could be laid.
“I am not going to have any police officer at any rank pervert the course of justice and deliberately try to interfere with these investigations. As it is right now I have taken action against some, more can be suspended very soon. Some people wanted me to cover this up. They used diversion and I was put under a lot of pressure to try to back off from this,” Griffith said.
He revealed that the enquiry has gone “very deep” and he is glad international investigators are coming in to tackle misconduct among police officers and/or Defence Force personnel.
“If we can get that international assistance – because I have Trojan horses and it goes very high up – so if this is an avenue that can assist me in bringing possible perpetrators to justice, especially those in uniform, I welcome that decision,” Griffith said.
Griffith said the plan is to make the foreign officers, Special Reserve Police (SRP) officers which would give them powers of investigation. He said he has selected certain “trustworthy” local officers who would work alongside the foreign investigators.
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