Going now to police and crime news we have more tonight on the death of Ulysease Adrian Roca. As we reported on Monday, he died of HIV-related multiple organ failure. But, many, including his family are blaming the police. That's because Roca had been detained for curfew violation two weeks before his death - and an officer took a video of him in custody, where he was mocked and made fun of, basically for being gay.
When he died with a very swollen jaw, the family claimed it was police who had given him that injury- and when it got infected it overcame his weakened immune system.
So, to them, the police are to blame. Well, this evening Commissioner Chester Williams called a press briefing to push back emphatically against that characterisation. He said a surveillance video fo the detention area has confirmed what the police have maintained throughout: that Roca suffered no physical injury during his detention; and, second, that they have found the cop responsible for the emotional humiliation and trauma caused by the cell phone video:
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Now we have looked at the surveillance video at the Racoon Street Police Station, which we knew would provide some guidance to us in terms of what may have occurred with him after he came into police custody. The surveillance video from within the police station and the cellblock showed the police encounter with him and at not time during his stay at the police station was he ever beaten by the police, that was revealed by the video footages. The police officer in question that he named, in terms of who beat him, that police officer isn't even a part of the state of emergency operation and was not even working on that night in question. Now, as I've said before, the main issue for us here is the issue surrounding the video that was recorded in the police station by a police officer and that video subsequently ended up on social media. Behaviours like those by police officers cannot be countenance and as such, the investigation have yield that, it was police Constable Chris Staine who had recorded the video and how it ended up on social media, that's a different story but he was the one who actually recorded the video. PC Staine is currently being dealt with by Professional Standard Branch and should be charged internally for an act of prejudice of good order and discipline and will appear before a tribunal tomorrow in respect to that matter."
