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Hon. King Visits Taylor's Alley
posted (March 23, 2012)
Tonight the fragile gang truce continues to hang in the balance, and relations between the police and the Taylor's Alley Gang remain tense.

That's after a joint operation between the GSU and other police units zeroed in on Taylor's Alley on Wednesday night. Six men in the alley claim they were beaten, injured and humiliated.

Today, Junior Minister with responsibility for the gang truce and CYDP, Mark King, visited Taylor's Alley to speak with residents. A statement from King says that quote, "the visit was eye-opening and he was touched by the account of events." His statement quotes him as saying that, quote "human rights must be maintained and citizens…must be treated with respect."

When we tried to reach King for a comment on camera, he told us he would be busy in meetings this afternoon. But his statement is important if only because it reaches out to the residents of Taylor's Alley - in the hopes of propping up the truce - which is - we said - more fragile than ever.

Last night, National Security Minister John Saldivar told us that a team of two former commissioners of police would be investigating the incident. The team has been named and the members are former Commissioner of Police, Hughington Williams, a representative of the Office Of The Ombudsman, Adam Jackson, and the Chairperson for the Independent Complaints Commission which now oversees internal affairs. The three person team will commence their investigation on Monday and is tasked to deliver the report within 7 days. They are tasked to find out if there were indeed police abuses.

In a telling line, Saldivar told us that quote, "the government is firmly behind the gang truce and in no way encourage any action that will jeopardize it."

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