Was ComPol Williams Pressured to Fire PC Deandre Reid?

On Wednesday, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told reporters that the adjudicator had recommended dismissal. However, we now know that isn’t accurate. It was ComPol Williams who revisited the case and upgraded the fine to a dismissal. But was he under pressure from external influences to ensure Reid lost his job? News Five’s Paul Lopez investigates.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

On Wednesday, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told reporters that former Police Corporal Deandre Reid was brought before a tribunal for shooting and killing the Governor General’s dog while on duty. ComPol Williams stated that the tribunal had recommended dismissal, which he upheld. However, tonight he is retracting that statement after leaked documents revealed that the tribunal had only recommended a two-hundred-and-fifty dollar fine.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I deal with many things everyday. I read several notes of evidence on a daily basis. Certainly after the news somebody called me and said it was not that the adjudicator recommended dismissal. Reid plead guilty and he was fined and you were the one who upped the charge. The next day I went to work and checked the file and indeed I eered in saying that the adjudicator recommended the dismissal. The same way how unum ek mistake and nobody kill unu for the mistake you make, I am human just like unu and the amount of things I deal with on a daily basis it is quite possible to forget every fact in every case. So I will be the first to admit that yes the first comment I gave was an error on my part and I take responsibility. But it was not an error to mislead the public in no way.”

By law, the Commissioner of Police is well within his authority to increase the penalty imposed by an adjudicator.

 

Deandre Reid, Former Police Corporal

“I say it, I nuh think the man, the commissioner, the ComPol wah do mih that. I perform, work, sometimes I slip up and reach work late. Other than that, the record is there to show. Jump on the system and all my thing the deh and I nuh abstract nobody out a rod. I nuh the chance nobody and beat nobody with gun eena deh face. I nuh the shoot down man and run after man out a rod just for my personal reason. I nuh mess with that.”

 

Chester Williams

“In the circumstances, considering the nature of what the officer did, I exercised my power under the police act and I upped the charge from a fine to a dismissal.”

 

Reporter

“In the diaries officers had noted that the dogs were aggressive. In one of the entries the officer before him had said do not do any patrols while the dog is out because it is aggressive. Could you or someone else had spoken to the GG and said the dog is bothering our officers, we are afraid the dog might bite one of our officers?”

 

Chester Williams

“I was not aware of any previous issues.”

 

In a series of four videos posted on social media, the former police corporal, Reid, shared his detailed account of the events. He vividly remembered the day he got his dismissal letter, recounting every moment with striking clarity.

 

Deandre Reid, Former Police Corporal

“When I read it ih seh that I get dismissed pan ground of a CTV footage that shows I intentionally went after this dog.”

 

Chester Williams

“I will ask you the questions, you saw the dog arrive at the door, the police was sitting down, correct, when the dog reached the door and he stood up, the dog made a turn and retreated. The police got up, went out of the booth and followed the dog. And then he shot the dog. Did you see any aggression on the part of the dog?”

 

Paul Lopez

“Yes.”

 

Chester Williams

“I guess you saw a different video.”

 

Deandre Reid

“And eena the footage you could see clear how the dog come bark dark dah the door,  I walk out to check see if ih nuh the deh. Ih show when I run back in the booth. Ih nuh show when I shoot ah and all ah that. Suh, I don’t know how they come to the conclusion that I intentionally gone shoot the dog.”

 

But was the Commissioner of Police pressured to have Reid dismissed because the dog he shot and killed was the Governor General’s?

 

Chester Williams

“There is no pressure Mr. Lopez. It has to do with it to some extent, but the main reason is because from my judgment the officer did not make the right call and his judgement was off in this instance.”

 

ComPol Williams backed the adjudicator’s view of Reid, praising him as a dedicated officer. Remarkably, Reid only missed work once in his entire ten-year career with the police force.

 

Chester Williams

“The police officer in question, he is not a bad police. He came from good family. His mother is a police officer, very good police woman. She is reliable, dependable, he came from a good family. There is certain decisions I have to make that is not easily not made. And it is not going to popular, but I make those decisions because it is the right thing to do. This is one such decision.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez