A former top-ranking member of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) has called for significant changes to be made to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) including the recall of Superintendent Kenneth Gill to help tackle the recent spate of criminal activities on the island including several unresolved murders.
In an interview with THE NEW TODAY, the ex-cop said that the current line-up of officers within CID has been the weakest in recent years and that Acting Commissioner of Police Don Mc Kenzie needs to address the situation as a matter of urgency.
He described the current head of CID, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ryan Hall as an excellent investigator but was bogged down with office work and did not have the time to go out and lead his team in the field work that is badly needed to gather information to solve the recent murder cases.
He also suggested that Commissioner McKenzie can also look at recalling Superintendent Esau Pierre who is currently on holiday but apparently due back in September but is an experienced crime fighter to take charge of CID and allow ASP Hall the freedom to roam the country to tackle the many unsolved criminal cases in the country.
According to the ex-cop, Supt Gill “is a good investigator” and suggested that “a mistake” was made to take him out of CID at the time and put him in charge of the Division covering St. Andrew.
“Gill was effective – he was good. Gill has a lot of experience, he is a worker and I know he can work,” he said.
The retired RGPF member recalled that when Supt Gill took over CID after Supt Earl Dunbar who has since retired from the police force, he was able to clear up a number of crimes that had occurred on the island.
He pointed out that a number of cases “were cleared up” when Gill was directly in charge of running CID and was testimony to his effectiveness in the Department.
Speculation is rife that Supt Gill is considered as a supporter of the main opposition New National Party (NNP) and had cultivated a close relationship with Nimrod Olivierre who was the party’s defeated candidate in St George North-east in the 2022 general election.
The ex-police officer noted that when Supt Gill was in charge of CID, he was still able to lead from in front by coming out of the office to fight crimes and also allowed Hall to play the role as “the roving man” by giving him the room “to move around” to different parts of the country to deal with criminal activities.
He said that with Hall now in charge of CID, he is no longer able to go out with the men under his command to confront the crimes taking place in the country.
“Hall should be allowed to move around with the guys and them and if it has crime in Sauteurs, they will move in Sauteurs and clear it up quick and then come back (to CID head office in town) and if it has (crime) in Grand Anse they will move down there again,” he told THE NEW TODAY.
“Hall (should) be the point man. Let him go out with a team of men and clear up all the murders so everywhere there is murder, let him go and investigate – he has no jurisdiction ‘(right throughout the country, that is what should be happening.”
According to the retired senior police officer, Commissioner McKenzie should move quickly to “bring back Supt Gill as head of CID (and) all the good people who were in CID (and transferred) bring them back in the Department.”
He also called on the chief cop to reinstate to CID a number of competent officers who were removed under the reign of a High Command Member that was known to be aligned to the NNP and had branded these officers in CID as supporters of Congress.
“Bring back those guys in CID – those guys could work. That is what they have to do. CID is kind of weak now. CID needs serious men,” he remarked.
The ex-RGPF member recalled that several years ago the island was hit by a series of criminal activities including a few murder cases and former CID head Superintendent Anthony Joseph was brought back in and in short order was able to solve the cases.
The retired cop also addressed the issue of a competent female officer at CID who was a very good investigator but was removed from the Department by the former High Command member and transferred as “a regular” for no apparent reason.
“She is a good, good police – a good CID girl, a real good police,” he said.
The former high-ranking members of the Police Force, officer, this particular female member of RGPF had learnt very quickly the art of fighting criminal activities and was able to handle a number of cases on her own.
He also called for CID to return to the days of mounting their own operations to help combat criminal activities on the island such as conducting searches randomly.