CoP: Give donation$ to ISoS not officers

TO combat allegations of corruption, the police service is using the I Support our Service (ISoS) initiative to gather donations that are to be used by and throughout the service.

Speaking with the media at his weekly briefing on Wednesday, Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said the ISoS, which falls under the ambit of the Communications Unit of the police, was established to stop police officers from collecting monies that are to be used for charity.

Recently ACP Irwin Hackshaw was cleared of any wrongdoing by a police investigation into allegations that he deposited over $2 million into more than 15 personal accounts, money he said had been collected from several business people as donations to help offset the costs of social events for the police.

Griffith said the ISoS collected food items, hampers, personal protective equipment (PPE) and cash to distribute to the less fortunate and within the police, from over 140 businesses since its inception after he became Police Commissioner.

“I do not want organisations giving funds, in cash or kind, directly to police officers; it can cause that element of possible corruption. So that is why this system exists now, where all organisations who will want to be part of this, I ask them: don’t forward anything directly to a police officer. Use the ISoS so we can have accountability to how it is received.”

He added that while there was no financial cap on monetary donations, all donations are registered to ensure that the donors are not vying for police contracts which can have the appearance of a bribe. Newsday has been informed that since the ISoS began, $45,000 cash has been donated among other valuables.

Asked what mechanisms are in place to ensure that donations are not being used as inducements, Griffith said: “We will be vigilant to make sure persons don’t submit a mask in the hopes that there would be expectation in the future.

"But more than anything else, we are getting items which will improve the TTPS. We have registered all (donations) and then we monitor those gifts to ensure there is no link, for instance, between that company and something they are tendering for to give any degree of preference.”

Griffith said there was a difference between a bribe and a donation and there would be checks and balances in place to ensure that donations were not construed as bribes.

“Never in history of police service have we been under so much scrutiny but, in that same breath, we’ve been held accountable as 77 police officers have been suspended and 58 charged. So it means that, on any occasion, any organisation, individual, firm, unit, they will be weighed, measured, and if there is enough evidence, they will be arrested.”