SOCU gets Deputy Head

Last Updated on Thursday, 5 May 2016, 7:30 by Denis Chabrol

The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force is getting a deputy head, at long last although there have been objections to his appointment in some quarters.

He is Retired Senior Superintendent of Police, Lawrence Kissoon.

Kissoon is expected to assume duty this week, almost immediately after his retirement.

Sources told Demerara Waves Online News that formal and informal concerns have been raised about Kissoon’s appointment at SOCU.

The agency requires confidentiality and secrecy to get the job done effectively.

Kissoon will be the Deputy to Assistant Commissioner, Sydney James.  James is a retired Colonel and former intelligence czar at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan denied being involved in approving the appointment of the Deputy Head of SOCU, saying that such operational matters are left to the Guyana Police Force.

SOCU is currently engaged in several wide-ranging local and international investigations into money laundering linked to gold smuggling and narco-trafficking by Guyanese based here and overseas.

SOCU’s operatives are periodically expected to undergo lie detection tests, in keeping with understandings with key Western Nations.