Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams has mandated officers investigating the fatal Sea Lots accident to conclude the probe by no later than the end of next week.And in response to questions from the public about the police's handling of the case, including the breathalyser test on the officer involved in the accident, Williams said the law did not require people involved in vehicular accidents to be subjected to a breath test. He said police officers would also not get special treatment over any other citizen in this country.
He made the comments during an interview with the Sunday Guardian about the now controversial case. Williams maintained that contrary to claims from Sea Lots residents, the police had in fact interviewed witnesses as they continued their probe into the February 24 accident which claimed the lives of Haydee Paul, 28, and her two daughters and injured three others.He said over 15 people in the Sea Lots area have been interviewed and eight statements recorded by the investigating officers.
He said he anticipated that because a police officer was involved there would be concerns about the investigation, and as the leader of his organisation he felt he needed to treat with the concerns."So I assigned an officer at superintendent rank to conduct the investigations," Williams said.He said a number of issues were highlighted.
"First, if the officer was breath-tested and if so, was it done within a particular time frame? There is no requirement under the law that a person in a vehicular accident must be breath-tested. However, it should be considered when you have reasonable suspicion that the driver was consuming alcohol."He admitted, however, that it was drawn to his attention that alcohol may have been a consideration in the accident.
"During the course of that day, people within the area expressed concern, saying someone had taken a bottle out of the car," Williams said."A police technician was sent to the hospital to conduct a breath test on the driver and the result was zero. It will be debated how long it will take after consuming alcohol to get to zero on a test."I have an idea from basic research, but to engage in that discussion will lead to claims of a cover-up."He said another key issue was the drawing of blood at the hospital.
"The critical issue is whether the blood was drawn from the driver with a particular intent to test for alcohol. No specific request was made by the police for such a test to be done."It was pointed out to the commissioner that victims of accidents, when taken to hospital, were required to fill out an accident report form that asks very specific questions, including if alcohol had been consumed and when. Then it is an automatic procedure for blood to be drawn and tested without a request being made by officers.
"Well, the issue surrounding what happened to the blood the doctors drew is an issue not within the control of the police service," he said. "That is what the doctors complained of–they drew the blood and something happened to the blood so they could not conduct any tests. We have no control over that. What I have control of is the investigations."
Noting that as far as the police investigations were going, nothing was going wrong, he said. The investigator would have received the post-mortem report on Thursday "and there is a clear directive from me for the investigations to be concluded with or without the input from the two victims who are still alive, no later than the end of next week."
"The report will be handed over to Deputy Commissioner Mervyn Richardson, who will make the first assessment to determine if it is clear that charges are to be laid against the officer. If it is not clear to him then he will seek the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution."Williams reiterated that there will be no cover-up, adding "no police officer will get any special treatment over any other citizen in this country when a crime is committed."
Look out for a full interview with Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams in tomorrow's paper.