ADAMS TAKES UP NEW JOB TODAY
SENIOR Superintendent Reneto Adams, having earlier hinted at defiance, now says he will today take up his new administrative post at the Mobile Reserve, in keeping with an order from Police Commissioner Francis Forbes.
“I am already at the Mobile Reserve. I was transferred there from last year. It is just that my desk has changed,” Adams told the Observer yesterday.
However, Adams, who did not hide his anger at the way his re-assignment was announced last week, is to be a coordinator of the National Crime Initiative, a mostly desk job that, according to police commissioner Francis Forbes, will have the colourful crime fighter:
* taking calls for assistance to divisions and organising the deployment of the resources approved;
* monitoring and collating the outcome of raids, roadblocks, spot checks and patrols across the island;
* channeling information and intelligence on criminal activities; and
* providing feedback on area crime plans and their outputs on a monthly basic.
Adams will report directly to Assistant Commissioner Arthur “Stitch” Martin.
Forbes announced Adams’ re-assignment and the dismantling of the controversial Crime Management Unit (CMU) which he headed, at a press conference a week ago.
Adams complained that he had not been informed of the plan and had learnt of it in the press. Forbes retorted that he had attempted unsuccessfully attempted to find Adams on the day of the press conference, but critics point out that that accurate information about the plan was being published in the press days ahead of the announcement.
Sources close to Adams on Friday indicated that he intended to challenge his transfer in the courts and would seek leave today to file the application.
But he yesterday declined to comment on the matter.
“I have to talk to my lawyers,” he told the Observer.
Adams — a tough crime fighter, who leads his troops from the front — was named almost three years ago as head of the Crime Management Unit (CMU), which was mandated to take on gangs, extortionists and car jackers. Prime Minister P J Patterson who announced the formation of the new squad in September 2000 when there was an outcry against the high crime rate, asked the police commissioner to name a senior officer to head the unit. Adams, then a superintendent in the East Kingston Division was subsequently promoted as head of the CMU and immediately promoted to acting senior superintendent and later superintendent.
However, the CMU has been involved in several controversial shootings, which have drawn the ire of human rights groups and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, which had continuously called for the squad to be dissolved. These include the West Kingston shootings in July 2001, where 27 people, including a policeman and a soldier, were shot dead in what the police said was a confrontation with gunmen.
The police were, however, exonerated after an inquiry headed by retired Canadian judge, Justice Julius Isaac.
And last month, four persons, including two women, were shot and killed by officers from the CMU during an alleged shoot-out in the district of Crawle, Clarendon. Adams and members of the team involved in the shooting were subsequently taken from front-line duties.
The local police are being assisted by investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI and Scotland Yard, who will determine if anyone was criminally responsible for the shooting deaths of the Crawle Four.
The CMU was also involved in the death of Grants Pen ‘don’, Andrew “Andrew Phang” Stephens; escaped convict Conrad “Phantom Killer” Levy and brothers Anief Jagaroo and Andrew Hamilton, who were shot dead in an alleged shoot-out with the police in the Windsor Road area of Spanish Town earlier this year.
Adams built his reputation as a tough crime fighter in St Catherine when he took the battle to the criminals in the parish capital of Spanish town and other areas of the parish. He earned the moniker “Saddam” during his tenure in that division.
While in St Catherine, Adams was at the helm of a squad that challenged and smashed a dangerous criminal gang from the Linstead area known as the ‘Bag and Pan Gang’. The gang was said to be running a wide extortion ring and wreaked havoc in Linstead and other areas. The gang was dismantled after their leader, Philmore Smith, also called “Bag and Pan”, was shot and killed by Adams and his men. After Smith’s demise, business persons and other residents in Linstead openly expressed their relief.