What the top cop saidStory Created: Jul 24, 2013 at 11:06 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jul 24, 2013 at 11:06 PM ECT
On July 5, acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams sat down with Express journalist Asha Javeed for an interview on the fifth floor of the Police Administration Building which lasted for about 76 minutes.
Topics of the interview included Anand Ramesar, crime, the budget and bad cops and focused primarily on whether the pronouncements by politicians on the political platform on the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) had negatively impacted on the public’s perception of the TTPS and its ability to handle the country’s crime situation.
During the interview, the competency and capability of the TTPS were questioned given the lack of convictions under its belt and the number of big cases such as the CLICO probe, the investigation into the New Flying Squad Investigative Unit (NFSIU) and emailgate which have yet to be concluded.
To this end, the issue of the TTPS’ ability to properly handle the emailgate matter was questioned given that it was a high-profile investigation and that it allegedly involved the country’s highest office holders as well as other officials who had been dragged into it such as chairman of the Integrity Commission Ken Gordon, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard and Chief Justice Ivor Archie.
The following is a partial transcript of the interview with Commissioner Williams which was the basis for the story published in the Express on July 8 with the headline, “E-mails Fake.”
Asha Javeed (AJ): Commissioner, there is debate as to who should be conducting the emailgate investigations. What is the correct agency to handle the investigation into emailgate? Is it the Integrity Commission or should Dr Rowley have made a report to the police?
Stephen Williams (SW): The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is the only legal agency to address any kind of criminal investigation. In this instance, a probe has to be conducted because there is no established criminal offence. A probe into the content of the e-mails should help us determine what offences, if any, were committed. If there was an offence, no probe would have been necessary and the police would have acted. Has there been breaches? If so, who was responsible? On the face of it, a probe into the issue presented will give us a lead into who was responsible.
AJ: So, Dr Rowley should have reported the e-mails to the police?
SW: I repeat, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is the only legal entity to conduct a criminal investigation in Trinidad and Tobago. Do you know that the Integrity Commission refers matters to the police for investigation?
AJ: No, I was not aware of that.
SW: There are many people calling for all sorts of international agencies to look into the matter. That suggestion is so foolish and it’s coming from people who are supposed to be intelligent. I repeat, the only legal authority to investigate this matter is the TTPS.
AJ: Commissioner, the TTPS is being furnished with statements by IT professionals hired by the people under investigation…
SW: That is out of their own volition.
AJ: Would these statements be of any use to the police in the investigation?
SW: I can tell you, it is not an aid to us.
AJ: Commissioner, when can we expect this investigation to be concluded? You had initially said that it should be concluded in a short space of time.
SW: The speed at which the investigation takes place would depend on the cooperation of the parties concerned. If they are not cooperating, then it slows down the process especially if you have to go three and four times to engage an individual to get something. But this is a probe in the first instance, so participation is voluntary. You cannot force someone to sit down and talk to you. People have legal rights and you have to respect that. The extent to which they cooperate is being managed by them. So I cannot force anyone to sit down and talk to me. It is their right to choose to talk. And these things slow down the probe as yet we do not have an established criminal offence.
AJ: What exactly is the police probing? The e-mails?
SW: Those documents purporting to be e-mails but they are not.
AJ: So are they fake e-mails?
SW: They are fake. But it was constructed to give one a reasonable impression that they are e-mails.AJ: So you’re not investigating whether the e-mails are authentic?
SW: The authenticity is one facet of the investigation. On the face of it, to any Trinidadian, those are not authentic e-mails. But do those documents read by the Opposition Leader represent the content of e-mails or exchanges? That is what the police is looking into.
AJ: So the content is under investigation?
SW: Yes, the investigators will have to go through line by line of the document to determine if any criminal offence was committed.
AJ: Instead of targeting Google, why haven’t the police just approached TSTT?
SW: The investigators will explore all facets of the investigation and I am sure all service providers will be targeted.
AJ: Commissioner, do these e-mails represent intercepted communication which the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) is capable of providing? Will the police approach the SSA for help on this matter?
SW: I cannot comment on that. I do not speak for the SSA.
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