Police Commissioner, Paul Farquharson, is blaming a “cocked-up” system for the increase of crime in The Bahamas.
He charged on Sunday that “there are laws on the books that need to be applied and we must have swift justice,” before any results are seen.
“Nobody has seriously addressed the problems and fixed it. We know what they are, but why don’t we have the will to fix it? We have been sitting on this for decades and we saw the manifestation coming,” he said.
Commissioner Farquharson, along with Assistant Commissioner in Charge of Crime, Reginald Ferguson and Officer in Charge of the Central Detective Unit, Marvin Dames, were special guests on Island FM’s Parliament Street radio talk show, hosted by Jerome Sawyer and Jessica Robertson.
Mr Farquharson said that in 2001, with 10,395 warrants issued for arrest, a criminal felt that if he went to court and pleaded “not guilty”, the chances of his case eventually being heard was almost nil.
“He will also ignore the court order by not returning to court, even though the Magistrate gave him a date or a summons was served. Consequently, that individual does not turn up, nor the complainants, because they are really frustrated by the system which has to be fixed in order for us collectively, to deal with this whole question of crime,” Commissioner Farquharson said.
He also said that the police have been told to zero-in on those who commit minor offences, but when such individuals are ticketed, they are not tried. “The system is just cocked-up and we have to fix it. If we go out there and clean up the streets, at the end of the day, we will have to go right back and do it again,” he said, stating that the police force, the courts and other areas have to be cleaned up as well.
“There has to be a three-pronged approach. While the police is cleaning up, we have to have quick justice at the other end and deal with these matters,” he said.
The Police Commissioner said that officers have a sworn duty to stand up to criminals and despite the fact that they may be frustrated, they have a sworn duty to protect Bahamians and will not be deterred by the other systems not fixing themselves.
“While it is discouraging, I have hope that somebody or some element of persons will try and help us to fix these systems to bring this society back where it belongs,” he said, adding that the ‘good old days’ are gone forever, but the fear of crime should be decreased.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Reginald Ferguson, said that “swift justice” is very important to the system and to the community. “It is not one of those countries where a dictatorship is practised and we can decree things overnight, but nevertheless, swift justice is vital to the maintenance of this system,” he said.
According to Mr. Ferguson, if a crime is committed and a penalty exists on the books, the police should go after getting this penalty exacted. “When we do not do this, we undermine society and the very system that we are promoting,” he said.
Supt. Dames, on the other hand, said that as the police are a part of the system, they believe that there are some things that need “fixing” in order for the system to work effectively.
He said that weekly meetings are held with head officers and the Commissioner where they discuss issues that need to be corrected, but their efforts have to be matched throughout the criminal justice system.
“I know that there are some things that are currently being addressed and certainly, we hope that they will be put into effect as quickly as possible, but we are a part of the system, therefore we do have faith in the system,” said Supt. Dames.
Commissioner Farquharson said the police are doing the best that they can, and at present, crime is down in several categories, with the exception of murder. “If you isolate that, compared to the other incidents of crime, then of course, I would say that we are faring fairly well,” he said.
The police chief noted however, that the Force has a responsibility to society to police the country and this cannot be done in isolation, and everyone must play a role.
According to 2001 statistics:
* 3,646 criminal cases were brought before the courts at the magisterial level, of which 2000 were completed.
* 727 cases were pending.
* 10,395 warrants were issued in 2001, of which 6,000 were executed.
In 2002:
* 4,455 criminal cases were received at the prosecutions office, and 3,000 were dealt with.
* 9,196 cases are pending before the courts
Presently, a total of 14,000 warrants are outstanding.
The Nassau Guardian
