Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 07, 2015 News
Two policemen remain under close arrest for the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man at Strathavon, Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara on Saturday.
The ranks who are both constables attached to the Cane Grove Police Outpost, shot 30-year old Junior Gulliver, when they responded to reports that he was threatening villagers.
The ranks are maintaining that they were attacked by Gulliver, who was armed with a cutlass, and they have since engaged the services of an Attorney.
However, relatives and neighbours of the dead man are insisting that the cops murdered an unarmed person.
The police in a press statement on Saturday said that the Office of Professional Responsibility is probing the matter.
Investigators have already taken statements from several persons who claimed to be eyewitnesses. These include the dead man’s brother Kenny Gulliver, who related that the police pre-meditated to kill his brother.
This newspaper was reliably informed that when the police first responded to a report that Gulliver was threatening persons, they came under attack and had to hastily retreat. In the process Gulliver damaged the vehicle they came in. Gulliver had struck the window of the vehicle with his cutlass.
The ranks went back to the station and after receiving another report that Gulliver was still acting in a threatening manner, armed themselves and returned to confront him.
Eyewitnesses said that Gulliver, aware that the police had returned with guns, went into hiding.
After a while, when he felt that the ranks had left the area, Gulliver emerged from his hiding place and went into his shack where he began cooking.
The two armed ranks subsequently emerged and confronted Gulliver and shot him.
The incident has been causing several tongues to wag with both civilians and police alike condemning the killing.
For the police part, the lack of training to deal with mentally ill persons is a major concern.
According to a senior police official, while there is a standard operating procedure on how to deal with mentally ill persons, it only caters for events after the persons has been restrained and placed into custody.
The officer said that the average policeman is not adequately trained to deal with the detention of mentally ill persons and therefore, should be very careful when responding to reports involving such persons.
“They should engage the social workers, because these things call for a lot of coaching skills and there has to be some special training for the police,” said the officer, who acknowledged that more often now there are requests for police intervention to deal with mentally ill persons.
Within the past few months, there have been violent confrontations between the police and mentally ill persons some of which have ended violently.
A month ago, a mentally ill man disarmed a Police Constable and shot him in his head while he was being placed into the lock-ups in Linden.
The mentally ill man was subsequently tracked down by the injured policeman’s colleagues and shot dead.
Just last week, the police had to discharge a round in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in order to restrain another mentally ill man, despite the presence of medical personnel who are supposed to be trained to deal with such situations.
A few years ago, Solomon Blackman, who was said to have been of unsound mind, walked into the Brickdam Police Station, disarmed a rank and opened fire killing two policemen before he was finally restrained.
According to the police official, the police will always get the short end of the stick.
“If they don’t respond to reports of mentally ill persons behaving in a certain manner, they will be criticized. And when they do and have to resort to the use of force when they come under attack, the same people who called the police in the first place, will turn back and accuse them of acting unprofessionally,” the officer declared.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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