Police and local newspapers seem to be trying to disguise the fact that an active duty police officer was involved in an armed robbery by calling him a “former” police officer, since he was fired for the crime.
The Guardian referred to the dirty cop as a “former” officer, the Tribune called him a “discharged” officer.
Technically, the officer may be a “former” police officer now. But when he committed the crime, and was arrested, he was an active duty police officer, one of hundreds of allegedly corrupt cops on the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
This charade goes on every time a cop is arrested for a serious crime, and that is too often.
The same tactic was used back in June, 2010 when a police officer was charged with murder. The media referred to him as an “ex” officer. But he wasn’t “ex” until he was arrested for murder. That means an active duty police officer murdered someone, not an ex-officer. Surprisingly, that officer was actually punished to some degree. He was discharged from the force. It is not known if he ever went to prison.
In April, 2010, during a forum to unveil the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s 2010 policing plan, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade admitted that the force has accepted unqualified applicants who had failed required entrance tests and who were deficient during training.
Yet, very few police officers have been fired or even disciplined since then. So where are all those bad apples? Apparently still on the force.
Shortly after that little speech by Mr Greenslade, more weaknesses were exposed in the vetting process for police recruits when a fugitive, wanted in the United States on an aggravated sexual assault charge, was found working as a police officer in The Bahamas.
In May of this year, it was confirmed by Deputy Police Commissioner Marvin Dames, that the high-ranking police officer who is suspected of raping a young woman with Down’s Syndrome was still on the job. The mentally handicapped girl allegedly had the officer’s baby after the rape. Without allowing independent verification, police later said a DNA test proved the officer did not rape the girl.
Also, in May, the officers who released murder scene photos of Nellie Brown-Cox have were said to have been “dealt with”. Later, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade admitted that they had not been, they had merely been “identified”. It appears that they still haven’t been “dealt with”.
In January, a police officer confessed to not showing up in court to act as a prosecution witness in a drug case. An arrest warrant was issued when the officer did not show up for the trial. The suspect was set free because of that no-show. It is interesting to note that the officer waited one year to confess to his misdeed. Only after the drug dealer was murdered did the officer come forward. He was fined $75.
In June, 2010, after police officers were found to be patronizing illegal numbers houses, Assistant Commissioner of Police Willard Cunningham said that any officer found in breach of the law will be prosecuted.
Yesterday’s newspaper contains a story about three men arrested for robbing a numbers house. What about the owner of the numbers house? Why wasn’t he arrested? He probably has a police officer as a bodyguard.
That would be like three guys being arrested for stealing the money during a big cocaine deal. Would police officers arrest the thieves and leave the cocaine dealer to go on his merry way?
Well, maybe in the Bahamas they would.
