Diandra Grandison, Staff Reporter
A Trelawny-based district constable is under investigation after he was fingered by residents as allegedly being the culprit behind a series of house robberies in their community.
A victim, who owns several properties, told THE WEEKEND STAR that a few weeks ago, his gardener saw the accused district constable along with three men removing items from his house under the guise of being bailiffs.
“I went to the house and saw that the door that was at the time recently reinforced was tampered with and that some personal items were missing. The gardener then came and said, ‘if the policeman neva tell me him come here this morning with a bailiff,” one victim revealed.
The victim told THE WEEKEND STAR that he was shocked by the gardener’s information, as all of his belongings were paid for and the services of a bailiff would not be warranted.
Ironically, according to the victim, a few days later the accused officer visited his premises.
“The policeman came about two days later and said he saw the door open and so he went over to see what happened and can’t believe ‘they’ did the place like that,” he said.
Local police
According to the victim, residents have lost faith in the abilities of the police station in their community, with many seeking solace from stations in adjoining districts, because of the constant thefts and alleged negligence on the part of the local police.
“About 12 houses in the community have been robbed since year, my house has been robbed five times since year and when we go to make a report at the police station and give statements, they don’t give us any receipts and they are not recorded. The police are just negligent,” the irate victim expressed.
The victim said he and many of his neighbours have placed their houses forsale due to the robberies.
He also revealed that since the district constable is being investigated, the robberies have since stopped.
An officer at the police station in the community confirmed they have on record only one robbery happening since year.
The investigating officer from the Major Organised Crime Anti-Corruption Task Force (MOCA) based in Montego-Bay, confirmed that an investigation was conducted on the accused officer.
He said a raid was conducted at the man’s premises, but none of the alleged stolen items were found.
He acknowledges that the residents have lost faith in the police in the community. “I am not sure if he is still there (the local police station), the plan was for him to be removed but I cannot confirm,” he said.
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