THE FIANCE SAYS …………….A woman whose fiance, a cop, has died under questionable circumstances is insisting that the cop killed himself. Special Constable, Kennard Chong, on January 13 reportedly took his life, at the St. Andrew home, he shared with his fianceé, also a police officer. Chong’s family and some community members from Woodford and Jacks Hill in St. Andrew, continue to raise questions, about whether it was an act of suicide, or murder. Chong would have turned 24, and his fiancée, Diana Dean, says she was there when he killed himself. Ms. Dean spoke to Irie FM News this morning (January 22) after reports emerged in the media, also raising questions, about the death. Chong and dean had planned to marry next month, and now questions have been raised about his death as its being alleged that he committed suicide. Reports are that a special constable was found dead at his home. Its reported that he had been shot. Police have not issued an official statement on the incident. The couple had planned their wedding for February 24, a day before Ms. Dean was to celebrate her 25th birthday. But, everything changed when special constable Chong’s life ended on Sunday, January 13. Dean says it was suicide, and she had no reason to want to kill the man she loved. She said they had an argument, and she told him she was ending the relationship. She claimed that he held her by the neck in the bathroom and that she walked away again answering yes to his question about whether the wedding was off. Then, she said, she heard an explosion. Dean says at the time of the incident, it was her, her 6 year old son and Chong who were inside the house in Jacks Hill. Dean who is trying to cope with the loss of her fiancé, also has to deal with the public making allegations and passing judgement through various social network sites.

HOWEVER, THE FAMILY SAYS ………..But even as the police carry out their probe, the family of the 23-year-old cop is adamant that he would never end his life. “He had no reason to commit suicide – none at all,” said family members and friends. When The Sunday Gleaner team visited the family last week, grief hung heavy like a mango tree laden with unripe fruit. The family members pointed to several questions they want answered before they accept that the man who had set his sights on leading the police intelligence unit would kill himself. “Why would somebody who is right-handed shoot himself in the left side of his neck?” asked one family member as he pointed to where the single bullet wound was found on Chong’s body. “Without any knowledge of these things, logically, if you right-handed, don’t the bullet should be on the right side of the body, or even in the front of the face? Why would he twist him hand so to shoot himself on the left side?,” added the family member who asked not to be named. The family members are also asking questions about who took the injured Chong to the hospital. The official report was that he was taken to the hospital by a woman who was in the building at the time of the incident, but the family members say they have been told that a man was also in the car when it arrived at the hospital. “Less than a hour before we get the news that him kill himself, him did call and say him coming for dinner. That time him did upbeat and happy,” claimed a family member. The grief of the family members was compounded on Monday when the woman who was Chong’s main caregiver after his mother migrated collapsed and died hours after leaving the hospital where he had been taken. Merna Bennett, who the special constable called ‘Auntie’, saw him take his last breath at the University Hospital of the West Indies before he died. Overcome with the weight of grief, the woman who was not yet 60 years old, gave up on life, family members said. So in 24 hours, Linton Chong lost his only child and his sister-in-law. “If I knew my son would die, I would take his place. I would give anything to be in his place,” the special constable’s father told The Sunday Gleaner. “I just have this burning feeling inside, and I can’t explain the pain. I can’t tell you how it feels. He was my only son, my only child,” said a broken Linton Chong as he placed his hand over his heart. The special constable would have been 24 years old on Tuesday, with his planned wedding being less than two months away. Those who knew him said he had a strong sense of family.

http://www.iriefm.net/news/headline/fianc%C3%A9e-dead-cop-insists-he-killed-himself
http://mobile.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130120/lead/lead1.php

Good afternoon Met and Metters, there is an epidemic of police killings that is rampant in Jamaica, and the matter seems to be getting more and more severe. I wonder if we the citizens of Jamaica are concerned about the unchecked and unprofessional actions of the police. This broadcast was aired on TVJ recently, (check tv show all angles)

The Human Rights Group seems highly concerned about the alarming rate of police killings and citizens of communities are outraged at the redundant “alleged” claim of shoot outs. Always the same old story, “man shoot at police and they retaliate”. Really? And why is that the fictitious “recovered weapon” is always a 9mm or mack 10? Metters please voice your oppinions. Respect Met this is one of the few platforms where people have access to speak. Thank you

One of the six persons, accused in the multi-million dollar loan racket at the National Commercial Bank, (NCB), pleaded guilty on Thursday. Christopher Brown,40,an Inventory Clerk, pleaded guilty before the Corporate Area Criminal Court. Brown was charged, after he borrowed J$4.2 million from the NCB, using false documentation. It’s reported that he was among more than a dozen persons, who defrauded the NCB of more than J$85 million in the loan scam. He will be sentenced on February 14. Meanwhile, the alleged mastermind behind the racket, Wayne Tait, remains behind bars. Tait, who is accused of defrauding the NCB of J$13 million and facilitating the scam, was remanded when he recently appeared in court. Another accused, Rohan Ennis, who collected a J$15 million loan in the racket, is now out on bail. The Organised Crime Investigation Division, OCID, began its probe in the scam last month, after the bank discovered that J$85 million in loans, was granted to persons who had submitted fake supporting documents, such as job letters, from companies that did not exist. The other accused are to appear in court next month.

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/man-pleads-guilty-in-ncb-loan-racket

TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Sabrina Roberts of local address 1 Worthington Avenue, Kingston, as well as a United States address, has been missing since Monday. She is of brown complexion, slim build and about 170 centimetres (5 feet 7 inches) tall.Reports from the New Kingston Police are that Roberts was last seen when she left her home for an undisclosed location. At the time she went missing she was dressed in a pair of jeans shorts, long sleeved green striped shirt and light blue sneakers. She was sporting a long, blonde, braided hairstyle.Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Sabrina Roberts is being asked to contact the New Kingston Police at 926-3508 , police emergency 119 number or the nearest police station.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/American-woman-missing#ixzz2ItVrfsRK

Tension at Tarrant – Principal defiant as teachers want him out
BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor – special assignment [email protected]
Wednesday, January 23, 2013

TARRANT High School Principal Garfield Higgins is resolute that he will not be forced from his position despite attempts by the school board to oust him, as well as discontent among some teachers who are adamant that they will not work with him.
A decision by the board to terminate Higgins’ service is now before the Supreme Court after the principal sought an injunction to stay his dismissal from the Kingston school.

According to Higgins, who has held the job for just under two years, the discontent is because of his drive to eliminate the level of tardiness, chronic lateness and non-performance among some teachers.
However, the teachers have accused him of being vindictive and disrespectful.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Education was called in to intervene after teachers stayed away from classrooms for the morning session to attend a meeting to decide how they would deal with further issues concerning the principal.
According to Higgins, the friction started after he found it necessary to implement measures to address and chronicle, among other things, the lateness of teachers. The records, he added, were there to show that lateness has been a chronic problem with one teacher being late 89 times, another 69 and yet another 61 times last year.
“[A total of] 286 hours were lost in one year of teaching and learning time,” the principal said, adding that he has been a stickler for teachers coming to work on time, attentiveness to lesson planning and getting to class on time.”
He added: “If they were working at the bank and they were late this many times in one year they would be out of a job, and so I tell them they must go to class on time and give a full day’s work for a full day’s pay.”
Higgins said among the other issues with which teachers were disgruntled was his decision to put an end to them selling merchandise to students and the privatisation of the canteen and the bookshop which was being operated by teachers. “Since then, there has been some friction,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Higgins said the teachers have also objected to him making unscheduled visits to their classrooms, claiming their space was being invaded.
According to Higgins, the school has seen an improvement in both academics and discipline since his tenure, with 100 per cent passes in Spanish, Home and Family, Religious Education, and 52 per cent in English, up from the 16.3 per cent it was in 2008.
But the teachers say the principal’s management style has caused him to lose the respect of both teachers and students alike.
The teachers, who spoke with the Observer on condition of anonymity, said the problem started from very early in Higgins’ tenure.
Regarding the claim of a chronic problem with lateness, the teachers said this was only the case with about four of the 63 teachers on staff.
“He has singled out these teachers and wants it to appear that his measures have been the source of the problem but it is his disrespectful and vindictive behaviour,” one teacher alleged.
Commenting on the bookshop issue, teachers said proceeds from it were given to the school and the students’ welfare when it was being operated by their peers.
The teachers alleged that at the heart of the problem is a teacher who the principal has since put in charge of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) and the summer school programme. The entire English Department, they said, was ousted from the English room so the teacher could use the sppace.
The Ministry of Education, the teachers said, has ordered that the room to be returned to the teachers and for another person to take over the co-ordination of the CAP.
“You can’t single-handedly appoint one person and you take a staffroom and have that one person occupy that space,” one teacher said. The teacher added that those displaced were ‘kotching’ all over the place.
The teachers said it was not true that the academic improvements came about because of the principal’s intervention as shortly before his appointment the school recorded the best grades in its history.
“We challenge him to tell us how he has contributed to academics of the school. We are challenging him to a one-to-one interview and we can flesh this out in the media,” said one teacher.
“We are saying we will not work with Mr Higgins, won’t work with him and we won’t be satisfied until he leaves. In the best interest of the school he needs to go,” said another.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Tension-at-Tarrant_13469230#ixzz2IxWFUpam