By David Dunkley,
Staff Reporter
A RIFT appears to have developed in the senior ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary over aspects of Wednesday morning's operation in Braeton, St. Catherine, in which the police shot dead seven men in what they said was a shoot-out.
Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, head of the tough Crime Management Unit (CMU), who led the team, went on leave yesterday amid reports that he had been reprimanded for talking to the media about aspects of the operation.
Contacted by The Gleaner last night, SSP Adams declined to comment on the reasons for going on leave at this time. But pressed, he said he would use the leave "to rest and think about the future."
"I have taken some leave to contemplate my future and my position with the CMU," was all he would say. Also, he declined to say for how long he would be out of office.
However sources told The Gleaner that the outspoken SSP Adams took leave because the Police High Command was unhappy with his speaking to the press before making a formal report of the operation in Braeton. Commissioner Francis Forbes could not be contacted last night.
The sources said that SSP Adams believes he is being pressured by other senior officers. "He believes he is getting a fight because he is making progress in his work. This is not going well with many other top officers," the source said.
In a radio interview yesterday morning, SSP Adams sought to establish that he was in charge of the "ground operations" but said he would defer to Commissioner of Police Francis Forbes, who on Wednesday afternoon had told reporters that Assistant Commis-sioner Jevene Bent, who is in charge of Police Area Five, which includes St. Catherine, was the officer in charge.
The seven men were shot dead during an early-morning raid.
The police reported that they went to a house on Seal Way to execute two arrest warrants and told the occupants to get out but instead the occupants shot at them. They fired back and during the shoot-out the seven young men were shot and wounded. They were later pronounced dead at hospital.
The police said they found four guns and a variety of cartridges in the house.
