The disclosure was made by head of the branch, Assistant Superintendent Raymond Wilson, following a Jamaica Observer article last week reporting a claim that District Constable (DC) Lothan Richards was left to fend for himself after being injured in a shoot-out between gunmen and police in Horizon Park, St Catherine, on June 12, which left two other cops dead.
He said District Constable Richards was taken to hospital and released that very same evening.
“In the instance of District Constable Richards, not only was he sent daily for dressing, he had several follow-up visits for doctors to make a proper determination to treat his injuries, and, of course, [last week] Wednesday he underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments from his leg,” Wilson said.
The DC pointed to the operation in Horizon Park which left Detective Corporal Dane Biggs and Constable Decardo Hylton dead, Superintendent Leon Clunis seriously injured, and District Constable Richards needing surgery.
Today we can say that we've spent in excess of $300 million to take care of members who have been, and who were injured in the line of duty, and District Constable Richards is no different [from] any of those members,” Wilson said.
