Gov. Benigno R. Fitial relieved embattled Ramon \u201cRay\u201d C. Mafnas of his responsibility as Department of Public Safety commissioner on Thursday, but retained him as Department of Corrections commissioner.<\/p>\n
The governor placed Mafnas on administrative leave on March 26 because of formal complaints against him, and ordered the Office of the Attorney General to investigate these complaints.<\/p>\n
Fitial directed Mafnas to report for work as DOC commissioner effective April 30.<\/p>\n
Fitial made the decision to relieve Mafnas as DPS commissioner days after receiving from OAG the results of its investigation on Mafnas.<\/p>\n
The OAG cleared Mafnas of any law violation, but found him in violation of investigative and interpersonal standards of conduct.<\/p>\n
The governor issued an April 26 memo to Mafnas, stating his decision to relieve him of his duty as DPS commissioner \u201ceffective immediately\u201d but retaining him as DOC commissioner.<\/p>\n
Mafnas has been holding two concurrent Cabinet-level positions\u2014DPS commissioner and DOC commissioner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIssues related to your performance as Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, have arisen. In response, I placed you on administrative leave from both positions. Additionally, I directed that these matters be reviewed by the Office of the Attorney General,\u201d Fitial told Mafnas.<\/p>\n
Fitial said the OAG investigation was completed and transmitted to him on April 20. He said upon receipt of the report, he has carefully considered its contents and findings.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective immediately, you are relieved of your responsibility as Commissioner, Department of Public Safety,\u201d the governor told Mafnas.<\/p>\n
Fitial and Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos separately said earlier that they will be discussing the OAG report and from there, jointly make a decision on Mafnas.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective Monday, April 30, 2012, you are directed to resume your duties as Commissioner, Department of Corrections,\u201d Fitial said in his one-page memo to Mafnas.<\/p>\n
Press Secretary Angel Demapan said last night that DPS deputy commissioner Ambrosio Ogumoro \u201cremains the acting commissioner for DPS until further notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, the governor has not selected anyone to be nominated for commissioner,\u201d Demapan added.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s nomination of a DPS commissioner requires the advice and consent of the Senate.<\/p>\n
Mafnas used to be Fitial\u2019s senior policy advisor before appointing him DOC and DPS commissioner.<\/p>\n
Police officers and lawmakers are keeping mum on the issue as of yesterday.<\/p>\n
OAG\u2019s three main areas of investigation were the complaints filed by two security guards and dive instructor; the allegations contained in a petition signed by DPS employees; and a letter from a police captain alleging that Mafnas interfered with a murder investigation.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham, in a news briefing on Monday, said that while not as serious as a violation of law, a violation of investigative standards is a matter of significance warranting the governor\u2019s serious consideration.<\/p>\n
The OAG determined that Mafnas violated DPS operating protocols, which suggest the need for the commissioner to have additional management oversight and possible training.<\/p>\n
The OAG found Mafnas in violation of interpersonal standards of conduct, which suggests follow-up and possible training needs.<\/p>\n
The OAG found Mafnas in violation of investigative standards pertaining to him not preparing a witness summary in connection with the investigation into the murder of Emerita Romero, and investigation at Suicide Cliff.<\/p>\n
But the OAG concluded as unfounded seven other allegations against Mafnas, including allegedly threatening to arrest and shoot certain individuals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial relieved embattled Ramon \u201cRay\u201d C. Mafnas of his responsibility as Department of Public Safety commissioner on Thursday, but retained him as Department of Corrections commissioner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160793\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}