390 / 494
389
(C)
Re: Para.11.83 – Summary of CoP Ellington’s Response
11.93.
(i)
He faithfully followed the principles which obliged him to
keep the functions among the Gold, Silver and Bronze
Commanders separate and he did not allow his functions
and role as a Gold Commander to conflict with those of
other commanders.
(ii)
It is disheartening that the Commission is attempting to
tarnish the good image and professional reputation of career
police officers whereas we attribute no responsibility to the
criminal elements engaged in the attacks on the State and
the JCF.
Commission’s Comments and Findings
11.94.
CoP Ellington was a Gold Commander. We accept that he
could “only give evidence as to the overall strategy and agreed tactical
options”. The substance of our comment concerns CoP Ellington’s
attitude to COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY. We have cited the supporting
evidence for our finding and contrasted his position with that of
CDS Saunders. While we agree with the CoP that the military and
police are very different organisations, our comparison is limited to the
attitudes of the leaders of the two security forces to the matter of
command responsibility IN THE SPECIFIC CONTEXT OF THE JOINT
OPERATION of 24 May 2010.
11.95.
It is of concern to us that, whereas Prime Minister Golding
testified on 9 February 2015 that “there is a section that is called JAVA
that was totally destroyed”, CoP Ellington’s evidence of destruction of
part of the community of Tivoli Gardens is starkly different. He said –