‘Pen is mightier than the firearm’

Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell has advised attorneys for Senior Superintendent Wayne Cameron to write to Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake regarding concerns about the seizure of his service firearm even though he remains on active duty.

Cameron, chairman of the Police Officers’ Association (POA), is facing allegations that he stole $15 million from the association. He was charged last month with five counts of fraudulent conversion and six counts of larceny as a servant. Following his arrest, he was granted $500,000 station bail, and his service firearm was taken.

When the matter was called in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday, Cameron’s attorney, Matthew Hyatt, told the court that although his client had been informed that he would be placed on interdiction, he has not yet received formal confirmation of when that process will take effect.

In the meantime, Cameron remains on active duty but without his service weapon, which Hyatt argued raises concerns about his safety.

“We know the climate that we are in,” Hyatt told the court as he asked the judge to order the return of the firearm.

Judge Burrell declined to make such an order, noting that she could not instruct the police commissioner. Instead, she advised Hyatt to put his concerns in writing and formally address them to the commissioner.

“The pen is mightier than the firearm,” she remarked.

The judge also raised concerns about the bail granted at the police station. Although she said she would not interfere with the $500,000 station bail, she indicated that she was dissatisfied with the amount.

She imposed additional conditions, ordering Cameron to surrender his travel documents, placing a stop order at all ports and directing that he be fingerprinted.

Burrell further questioned what she described as inconsistencies in the granting of station bail, noting that some accused persons are brought before the court in custody while others are granted bail at the station. She asked whether there was an established policy governing the process, stating that the manner in which station bail is sometimes applied “occasionally smacks of injustice”.

In Cameron’s case, she said the bail granted was significantly lower than what she would have imposed.

Cameron is scheduled to return to court on May 28 for a plea and case-management hearing.

Meanwhile, a prosecutor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions told the court that a mobile phone subscriber report and two police statements were still outstanding and requested two months to complete the file.

Investigators say the probe centres on the handling of funds under Cameron’s leadership of the POA, including the encashment of cheques. It is alleged that he breached established procedures in relation to certain financial transactions connected to the association.

Hyatt said his client denies the allegations and maintains his innocence.

The charges arise amid an ongoing legal dispute between Cameron and Blake over a directive seeking Cameron’s removal as POA chairman. That directive has been temporarily halted by the Supreme Court and is now under appeal.

Cameron is represented by attorneys Bert Samuels and Matthew Hyatt, while attorney Tishanna Maxwell observed proceedings on behalf of the Office of the Police Commissioner.

tanesha.mundle@gleanrjm.com