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Williams agrees with judge, but defends men
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Posted on Apr 26 2006
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Ernest Mark Williams said he has no problem with Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo’s appeal to DPS and the Attorney General’s Office to improve their investigation techniques.
“I would agree with him [Govendo]. You can only be proficient if you train. There are areas that we need to do some training,” Williams said in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.
Although he expressed confidence in the skills of the detectives at the DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau, the commissioner underscored the importance of further training.
“We’ve got a lot of great officers out there. If you don’t train, you don’t practice things, then you lose the proficiency,” he said.
In a recent ruling, Govendo suggested that DPS re-evaluate the tools and skills that detectives use in conducting an investigation and preparing affidavits in support of arrest and search warrants.
In addition, Govendo said the AGO should be consulted to guide police detectives in substantiating probable cause before submitting an affidavit to a judge.
The judge made the suggestion in his written order that granted former acting police director Capt. Aniceto T. Ogumoro’s motion to suppress all the evidence seized during the raid at his house on Capitol Hill on Feb. 10, 2006.
The AGO charged the 44-year-old police captain with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, one count of possession of a weapon without proper registration, and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition.
Williams said the skills of law enforcers tend to diminish if they stop undergoing training. But he stressed that DPS has “fine, top-caliber people out there.”
Williams said he is taking Govendo’s decision in a positive way.
“I was there that day in the courtroom and I have no issues with that. …We have to do some training in some areas and not just the areas that he identified,” he said.
The commissioner, however, emphasized that he is commenting only the judge’s suggestion to improve the investigators’ skills and not on the legal issues as the case is still pending in court.
