Now Carenage Police Station abandoned

Officers of the Carenage Police Station yesterday abandoned their post and moved to the Four Roads Police Station in protest over the dilapidated conditions at the Carenage station.

However, after a three-hour meeting between police administration, the police social and welfare association and the officers of the dilapidated Carenage Police Station yesterday, a defiant Inspector Augustus Walker, head of the station, refused to leave the station. To compound the matter, a clash of words between Ag Inspector Christopher Holder, president of the PSWA and Deputy Commissioner Glen Roach led to a more intense situation with Roach accusing Holder and his executive of being “wicked,” while another accused the executive of engaging “civil disobedience.” “I am not moving, I am head of the Carenage Police Station, stationed here to provide safety for the people of the area,” a defiant Inspector Walker who has 33 years service, told Newsday. “Carenage is unique, being the only area with a large “yachties” population which has it own kind of crime. “Then there are the known high crime areas, the low crime areas and the posh areas. While I agree the station is run down and the manpower is inadequate, I will not renege on my responsibility.”

Listing the many problems and giving the media a tour of the 150-year-old facility, the inspector was adamant that he was not going to move. Ag Inspector Christopher Holder, president of the PSWA, assured the public that “things would be put in place to have more patrols in the area.” DCP Roach and his team arrived shortly after Holder spoke to the officers at the station informing them of their rights. He told them that having police work under such conditions was a violation of the Police Act. He produced documents showing support from various interest groups in the area to deputy Commissioner Everald Snaggs, to have the station relocated. DCP Roach questioned the relocation from Carenage, saying that stations such as Toco, Roxborough and La Brea among others were in much worse condition. He also noted that an agreement was reached and some remedial work was to been done to this particular station. In response, the association representative responded by saying while they are aware of the plans by the executives, the officers at the station and several interest groups in the area complained about the situation. When Newsday spoke to residents in the area,  many expressed concern about their safety if the station should be removed from the crime-infested area.