The police administration of ‘B’ Division (Berbice) is undergoing a shake-up with the assignment of Deputy Commander Superintendent Wayne Dehearte to head Sub-Division Three.
Dehearte is expected to take up his spot on the West Coast of Berbice sometime this week, while Senior Superintendent Phillip Azore is expected to assume the post of Deputy Commander.
Dehearte told reporters yesterday that he was “enthusiastic” to take up the new position. He said he is looking forward to meeting new persons on the West Coast of Berbice, as well as getting to know the villages in that sub-division. He noted that he plans to work on building a good relationship with residents as well as the ranks stationed there.
Bood-narine Persaud
The former officer-in-charge of Sub-Division Three, Assistant Super-intendent E. Davidson, has now been named the second-in-charge of the sub-division.
Superintendent Dehearte, who headed the police force’s Narcotics Branch, was transferred to ‘B’ Division in wake of the disappearance of a quantity of cocaine from an office at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, in Georgetown.
In September, 2017, the transfer was done to facilitate a probe, which was carried out by the police force’s Office of Professional Responsibi-lity.
The cocaine had been seized from ex-policeman Travis Mendonca, 31, a resident of Linden, who was sentenced to three years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to possession in 2017.
However, in November of last year, Crime Chief, Lyndon Alves had told reporters that the probe was completed and advice was given to take disciplinary action against the Superintendent. Alves had also said that the file was sent to the Police Service Commission for action to be taken.
It is unclear whether the move from deputy commander to officer-in-charge of a sub-division, which is considered a demotion among the ranks of the police force, was the disciplinary action taken.
Calls to Alves for a comment on the matter went unanswered yesterday. Calls to Deputy Commissioner (Admini-stration) Paul Williams also went unanswered yesterday.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Bood-narine Persaud, who was in-charge of Sub Division Two, which runs from Borlam Turn to Skeldon, was moved to the division’s Operations Room.
Superintendent Mahendra Singh is expected to head the sub-division.
Noticeably, while Superintendent Persaud headed the sub-division several major crimes were left unsolved, including major robberies and an abduction which led to a rape. More recent unsolved crimes include a robbery committed by five armed bandits on a John’s Settlement, Corentyne businesswoman, who said she and her guard were beaten, and a break and enter at a Chicken Outlet located at Clifton Settlement, Corentyne. The police in that sub division are also yet to make an arrest in the murder of Surinamese national Nitender Oemrawsingh.
Additionally, the police are yet to arrest the murder suspect in the murder of Carl McDonald, 25, at Angoy’s Avenue last December. They have also failed to charge suspects in the Number 19 supermarket robbery, which had left the owner as well as a pregnant woman and several residents all brutalised.
