Facing a bounty on their heads, Southern Division Task Force police officers who were involved in the fatal police shooting of suspected criminal Adelle Gilbert have not yet returned to work.
The officers who were part of an exercise at Carlton Lane, San Fernando, on Thursday, began receiving counselling from the Police Social and Welfare Unit.
Two of the officers who were identified in a Facebook post have also been given additional security.
In an interview yesterday, a source who is close to one of the officers said life has not been the same for the officers since Gilbert was shot and killed.
“It is sad to see senior State officials making comments based on a video. Nobody was picking up spent shells. This was very demotivating,” the source said.
“These police officers have been doing surveillance work and leaving the station at all hours of the night and morning. They are now very demotivated when they hear the comments that senior State officials have made.”
In an interview, Senior Supt of the Southern Division Adeline Pesnel said internal precautions have been taken to protect the lives of the Task Force officers who were instrumental in retrieving over 150 guns and taking millions of dollars worth of narcotics from off the streets over the past year.
Asked whether the recent video posted by a man claiming to be Gilbert’s cousin was being treated as a direct threat by the TTPS, Pesnel said, “Well we have all seen it and we can all determine whether it was a threat.”
She said how the threats would be treated was a matter for Acting Commissioner of Police Harold Phillip. Pesnel also said that investigator Yusuff Gaffar has not yet completed the preliminary report into Gilbert’s death.
“He is still in the process of gathering statements from witnesses. He has not yet submitted the report but we have had several conversations,” Pesnel said.
She said the safety and welfare of the police officers were of paramount importance, so details about their security could not be divulged. Another senior officer who requested anonymity said the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit was doing a threat assessment of the video to determine whether any charges could be laid.
Police officers from other Crime Suppression Units in the Southern and South Western Division said they too needed additional security.
Gilbert, 34, of Embacadere, San Fernando, died after being shot by police at an HDC apartment in Carlton Lane.
An autopsy showed that he was shot twice in the back and the bullets exited his chest.