Philipsburg:--- Several veteran detectives that have close to 40 years of service in the police force are seeking transfers from the department since they cannot agree with their department head Denise Jacob.SMN News has been reliably informed that at least five local detectives have requested a transfers from the department since they cannot get along with the head of the detective department.
The sources said that Lucy Cashette the head of the Juvenile Department and Jarrel Kidjo have already left the detective department and are now working for the Lands Recherché. While veteran detectives such as Carlton Philips, Turhan "Pico" Simmons, and Edwin de Cuba have also requested transfers from the Detective Department. Philips and De Cuba have served the Police Force for some 37 years while Simmons has been there for 36 years.
The source said that at least two of the detectives that are at odds with Jacob and her leadership skills have since sent letters to the Chief Commissioner of Police Peter de Witte asking that he intervene but so far they said De Witte has done nothing to rectify the situation. SMN News learnt that the local detectives have cited severe disrespect on the part Jacob. "Can you imagine she told one of the Detectives to shut the f--- up in one of the meetings." They further claimed that Jacob told the head of internal affairs George York that his reports on incidents can be considered as trash. "The new department head lacks respect for the local detectives, we have worked on several murder cases and know who the suspects are but they don't trust our work and that is why there are so many unsolved murders on St. Maarten while the spate of armed robberies are increasing daily."
Some of the detectives spoke to SMN News exclusively on the condition of anonymity saying that they don't want to destroy the organization they built from scratch with little or no tools but something must be done to save the Police Organization on St. Maarten. The detectives said they already dispatched a letter to the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister asking that they intervene before the police and its unions take matters into their own hands which according to them would further jeopardize St. Maarten.
For the year 2011 there were 17 confirmed murders while there are two cases that are still pending. The detectives said that the Regatta murders were solved by the local detectives (namely the head of Armed Robbery Unit). "Our colleague heading the armed robbery unit had to fight tooth and nail with the Dutch detectives from the RST about the Regatta murders. He told them that the murders were committed by the same persons because of the Modus Operandi and they refused to listen to him. It was days later they decided to follow his advice and they solved those cases." As for the Afoo murder they claimed it was bungled by the RST because they deported the eyewitnesses who led them to the murder weapon.
It should be noted that while the murder rate on St. Maarten has skyrocketed for the year 2011 most of them were solved. Namely the three suspects who are now serving life sentences for the Regatta murders and there are seven persons behind bars for at least five murders and two attempted murders. The other murder investigations are ongoing, just recently police arrested a second suspect in the Deygoo murder investigation.
Efforts made to reach the head of the detective department Denise Jacob for a comment on the allegations proved futile since she is currently on vacation.
In an invited comment, the Chief of Police Peter de Witte confirmed that two of the five detectives namely Phillips and Simmons requested transfers and the Minister of Justice Roland Duncan has to take a decision on where to send both men who has served the police force for a number of years. "The two detectives have requested transfers and I took their files to the Minister, so now it is in the Minister's hands." De Witte said that De Cuba did not submit a request for transfer.
De Witte acknowledged receipt of the letters that was sent to him and he said he dealt with the matter internally. The top cop clarified that two of the five detectives that were transferred to the Lands Recherché was done with his permission. "The Lands Recherché was lacking men and they requested five people, at first I gave them three detectives and now I have decided to give them another two namely Cashette and Kidjo." However, in the case of both detectives the Minister has to sign off on the decree for them to go over to the Lands Recherché. "The two detectives that are going to work with the Lands Recherché did not leave because they have problems with the department head. The Lands Recherché asked for them for their qualities and I agreed to let them go because the Lands Recherché has a number of cases to investigate and they lack manpower.
As for the solving of the Regatta murders. De Witte said when those cases were solved the Police, Prosecutors Office and the RST acknowledged that the most crucial information came from the local detectives. He said that for him it was all about team work and the Regatta investigation is proof of that team work. "The local detectives worked very well with the Dutch detectives and the RST and they got the results of good team work when the suspects were convicted for life last year," De Witte said.
In defense of the head of the detective department, De Witte said that Denise Jacob is a very straight cop who wants a police force with integrity. "Integrity of the Police force means a lot to Denise Jacob and so she does everything in her power to provide proper leadership. Besides that, Jacob has the community at heart and she does everything possible to make sure that crimes are solved."
He further explained that in the past everybody was their own boss and that has changed since Jacob arrived.
