—questions deployment of divisional commanders at individual incidents
Former Police Service Commission chairman Paul Slowe has defended the description of Constable Ryan Greene as “collateral damage” in the surveillance-footage case involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, alleging that Mohamed is the principal target of the authorities.
Speaking on his programme, Speaking Out: Exposing Corruption and Incompetence, Slowe said criticism of the expression made by Mohamed’s sister Hana Mohamed, overlooked its meaning: harm suffered by someone as a consequence of action directed at another person.
Hana made the comment during a heated exchange with Greene’s father who was questioning why Mohamed made the footage public instead of waiting to use it in court.
“I maintain and support this argument that the constable was collateral damage. He was not the intended target,” Slowe said.
Slowe said the use of the phrase had attracted criticism but argued that it accurately conveyed his assessment of the case.
Mohamed and Greene were remanded on October 30 after being jointly charged with Unauthorised Giving of Electronic Data under the Cybercrime Act. The case concerns police surveillance recordings of the October 12 encounter in Kitty involving Mohamed and Special Branch Head, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine.
Police allege that Greene obtained the recordings without authorisation and supplied them to Mohamed for $800,000. Mohamed has disputed paying for the footage. Their attorneys have challenged the proceedings and the refusal of bail.
Slowe compared Greene’s position with that of other persons charged alongside him in an earlier conspiracy-to-defraud case. He said he and he now late retired assistant police commissioner Clinton Conway, both of whom were on the Police Service Commission had been the intended targets, while the others had been caught up in action aimed at removing them from the commission.
Divisional commanders
Meanwhile, Slowe criticised what he described as a tendency for divisional commanders to place themselves at individual incidents rather than maintain oversight of their entire divisions.
Referring to police deployments during King Charles III’s recent visit, he argued that commanders needed to retain the ability to coordinate responses to several incidents occurring simultaneously.
“When you are a division commander, you have to, at all times, remain in command of your division,” he said.
Slowe outlined a command structure involving gold, silver and bronze commanders, with responsibilities assigned in advance through a special operational order.
He said separate officers could oversee functions such as criminal investigations and traffic, while the divisional commander maintained an overall view of developments, communications and available resources.
Using Georgetown as an example, he questioned how a commander absorbed in managing one scene would respond if other serious incidents arose elsewhere in the division.
“You need to put yourself in a position where you maintain control of your division,” he said.
The commander, he argued, should be able to receive reports from officers managing individual incidents and arrange reinforcements or other assistance where needed.
Slowe also warned against allowing political figures to dictate where commanders should position themselves.
“Don’t let no politician tell you, ‘Let the commander go there,’” he said, maintaining that deployment decisions should preserve effective command of the division.
He urged police leaders to accept professional advice and establish clear responsibilities before operations began, arguing that concentrating senior command at a single location could weaken the response to events elsewhere.
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