Three Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairmen are requesting that the Commander of C Division, Edmond Cooper take action against ‘corrupt police officers’ who they say are creating numerous challenges within their respective NDC’s
. According to a media release from Region Four, the call from the NDC Chairmen was issued to Regional Chairman, Genevieve Allen, who has promised to meet with the Cooper to have the matters addressed urgently.
“I am glad that you have asked for my intervention and I can assure you that I will be speaking to the Commander with the view of having these matters addressed ASAP. However, please document the names of the officers that you have had issues with, so that I can present all the information to the Commander,” Allen was quoted as saying, in the press release. The matters raised by Ovid Kingston, Ayube Mohamed and Leslie Glasgow, the Chairmen of the NDCs of Haslington/ Grove, Mon Repos/La Reconnaissance, and Soesdyke/TeHuis’t Te/Coverden, respectively, are concerned with the police within their respective NDCs granting permits to party promoters after the NDCs have denied them.
Glasgow disclosed that many times when his NDC has refused to grant permission for parties or road side bar-b-ques, certain police officers would offer the promoters and or holders of these events permits to hold the very events.
“We have had cases where we deny permits, but lo and behold mere hours and or days after the very persons were granted permission by the police, despite us refusing to grant the permission and in many cases we had solid reasons why we refused. So the persons coming for permission takes us as jokers, as they know that even if we refuse they will still get the permission,” Glasgow was quoted as saying in the Region Four media release.
Haslington/Grove NDC Chairman Kingston stated that he has faced major uphill battles with several party promoters who blatantly tell him that the police gave them permission to carry on their parties.
“What I find strange is that there is cut off time for music but yet many times these guys are seen playing the music much later than the time and when the police’s intervention is sought they refuse to help,” Kingston was quoted as saying in the statement. .
The Chairman noted further that in some cases the promoters and party holders would bluntly reveal to him that because they are paying the police directly and there is nothing that the NDC can do to stop them.
Mon Repos/La Reconnaissance Chairman, Mohamed echoed similar sentiments, in the media release, that the police should be blamed for several of the challenges and difficulties being encountered in several societies, as many of the officers are more interested in ‘making a raise’ rather than ensuring that law and order is maintained. Mohamed made reference to the recent murder in Mon Repos at a roadside bar-b-que, where the police granted permission to the holders of the event despite the NDC having denied it.
Mohamed noted that his NDC is completely fed up with what he dubbed as corruption and issued a passionate appeal for the Regional Chairman’s assistance with the matter.
“Madam Chairman I am appealing for your immediate intervention into this matter as we cannot continue like this, the residents of my NDC and you have heard similar stories of two other NDC’s who have all disclosed that their residents are being abused with the noise nuisance, but unfortunately because the police getting their ‘lil thing,’ nothing is happening in terms of ending it,” Mohamed was quoted as saying in the release.
