And while the Commissioner accepts that detained persons must be treated in an acceptable manner, that doesn't mean they should have cell phones in the cell block! In fact, detained persons are strictly not allowed to have mobile phones while in custody. But, it seems Corporal Usher had a camera phone - which snapped those pictures.
Now, that puts the Commissioner in what would seem to be a cute situation, because Corporal Usher raised a matter of national interest - but he did so by breaking the rules.
We asked the Commissioner about that contradiction today:..
Jules Vasqeuz- Reporter
"We have a whistleblower here who has done a public service. Now I know he is no favorite of the department, witnessed by the fact that he was detained for 48 hours, taken to court on something that is completely frivolous because the complainant had told the police, as he told the court, he has no interest in charges. So, his detention Mr. Corporal Usher can be seen as punitive. It was clearly punitive. Will he now be additionally penalized for breaking the rules and having a camera in the detention cell?"
Chester Williams- Commissioner of Police
"Jules, I do not see it as frivolous. Neither was his detention punitive in nature in the sense that, I don't know if you have the full nature of the complaint, but the complaint was that there was some gambling and somebody won and a firearm was involved, shots were fired, the complainant claimed to have been beaten up. So, if a gun was involved and shots were fired, I don't see how it could be frivolous. And my thing was that, if it is that the man has made a complaint let us take the matter to court. Let him go to the court and say to the court he wants nothing. Because I don't want later on you come back and say, 'Oh! Because he da wah police man uno no do nothing.' We do our part, then he goes to the court and tells the court he wants nothing and the court disposes the matter from there."
Jules Vasquez
"But sir, you are having a double standard, respectfully..."
Chester Williams- Commissioner of Police
"Let me finish. In respect of the issue with him having a phone in the cellblock, that is a totally different situation. Now I have tasked professional standards branch to go in and investigate that matter to see how can a prisoner in custody have a cell phone on him doing the things he was doing. Practically he was on facebook all day. We cannot countenance such behaviour."
Jules Vasquez
"You are showing a double standard because in the case of Douglas Grant, and Chicken Dread Ferguson, you said if the man wants to drop the complaint we can't proceed with it any further. As Mr. Chicken Dread indicated that he didn't want the complaint against Douglas Grant. You were happy, because of the political implications, to take your hands off that case. So that is a double standard."
Chester Williams
"Hold on again, let me answer you. With Mr. Usher there is also political implications and neither Chicken Dread nor Douglas Grant were police officers. When it comes to police officers, we are going to ensure we do what we need to do to show that there is no cover up because you and I know Jules that if we had not done so, you would have been the same one to come back and say, 'Oh! Because dah police officers...' that is not going to happen."
Jules Vasquez
"How then do we deal with the issue of the whistleblower? He has done a public good. He has put fire under your chair, under the human rights chair by exposing this abominable condition."
Chester Williams
"Jules, I don't think he put any fire under my chair."
Jules Vasquez
"You wouldn't have fixed it if it hadn't been exposed."
Chester Williams
"No! That had been tasked even before he did that."
Jules Vasquez
"Is that so?"
Chester Williams
"Yes, it has been tasked. I am waiting for the estimate to come in. So, I don't understand how you call him a whistleblower. And he was a police officer on actual active duties for many years. He used to see it in such a condition. He did nothing. But because he is a victim of it now, he was placed in there, now it becomes an issue to him. Come on, we must be fair. And we must understand that Corporal Usher is still a police officer and therefore he is still subject to the discipline of the police department. And if it is that the police investigation reveals that he has committed any disciplinary infractions then he will be dealt with likewise."
Usher is presently on interdiction for a drug trafficking charge. Those political considerations Williams referred to are the fact that Darrell Tutsi Usher's father is the PUP's standard bearer for Port Loyola. Douglas Grant - who we referred to in the story - is a functionary for the UDP's police minister.
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