Police Commissioner Verne Garde says the investigation into criminal allegations involving government minister Richard Frederick is finished, and investigators could not prove the claims.
Garde provided this update at a police press conference on Wednesday. He confirmed that he reviewed the investigation’s findings and agreed with the investigating officer’s recommendation.
“An allegation was made. We looked into the particular allegation, and the allegation was not sustained,” Garde said.
In this context, “not sustained” means the investigation did not find enough evidence to support the allegation.
The investigation began after Frederick’s arrest, which became public when St Lucia Times asked Garde at a July 2 press conference about reports of a senior government official’s arrest.
The police chief had previously not named the official. This time, he identified Frederick directly while giving the update.
“A senior government official, right, in the person of Mr Richard Frederick, was arrested on that particular day,” Garde said. “I did give instructions for the matter to be continually investigated so that we could get all the facts in the matter.”
Those instructions led to an investigation that Garde described as complicated and extensive.
At first, police did not have a statement from the people who made the report. Garde said they worked hard to get one, including having an officer travel outside Saint Lucia.
“We expended all the resources within our unit to try to secure the statement, which we did. Actually, the investigative officer had to do some overseas travel to try to secure the statement.”
After getting the statement, police continued their investigation.
“We did follow-up investigations in regards to the allegations,” Garde said. “Based on all of the investigations which we did, which is quite voluminous, we were not able to sustain the allegation.”
However, the exact nature of the allegation against Frederick has not been made public.
When pressed on Wednesday about both the nature of the allegation and the investigating officer’s recommendation, Garde said he was constrained in what he could reveal.
“I am not in a position to say what the allegation is,” he said. He explained that the Criminal Code requires police to be careful about what information is shared publicly during criminal cases.
Garde also stressed that this outcome should not stop anyone from coming to the police with a complaint.
“As long as somebody feels that their rights have been infringed, we are obligated to assist them,” he said.
