(Jamaica Gleaner) Just over a month after being appointed head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s (JCF) Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), Assistant Commissioner of Police Bishop Gary Welsh has been booted from the post. He was today replaced by Assistant Commissioner of Police Kevin Blake.
Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson did not give any reason for the immediate reassignment of Welsh. He, however, said in a statement that Blake had been instrumental in the design of PSTEB. Before his assignment to PSTEB, Blake served as the head of Areas 3 and 4 and the Planning, Research and Development Branch.
It is unclear which of the JCF’s branches Welsh has been shifted to. The former force chaplain has experienced a rough spell lately. It began last week when he decided to let Dennis Dietrih go free after he was caught on video carrying out a potentially dangerous stunt the alleged driver of a Mercedes Benz Sport car at a usually busy St Andrew intersection.
The decision to let him off the hook sparked public outcry.
Welsh further compounded the matter as he addressed a gathering at the First International Symposium on Traffic Investigation and Black Box Analysis at the Caribbean Maritime University on Monday, where he made premature announcements about adjustments to the way police traffic policy will operate come September 1.
However, the JCF’s Corporate Communications Unit issued a statement earlier today, outlining that despite “suggestions being erroneously aired in the public domain, the JCF’s policy remains unchanged and continues to be guided by rule of law in a respectful manner, always seeking to be a force for good”.
