Four civilians were named on Thursday as members of the Complaints and Corruption Unit of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. It was made necessary because the handling of complaints against the police is a crucial factor in the degree of the Force’s public acceptability and its reputation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Cynthia Pratt, made the announcement.
In an effort to point out the importance of appointing such individuals, Minister Pratt made reference to the recent shooting death of a civilian that occurred on St. James Road over the weekend by a police officer. She said when such events occur involving the police, the public become very “uneasy” as the police are the ones investigating these matters, but with the addition of civilians to the Unit, individuals would become more trusting, knowing that their complaints would be fully investigated and hopefully resolved.
“A unit such as the civilian branch is one that will hear these complaints. There will be other matters similar to this (St. James Road incident) that this unit will definitely be a part of,” she said, adding that in order to bring credibility to the department, she would like to know that the public at large is playing a role.
The four civilians appointed the Unit include: Carleton Williams, who was appointed Civilian head of the Police Complaints, Sir Albert J. Miller, Mrs. Olivia Saunders and Apostle Walter S. Hanchell.
According to Minister Pratt, the Unit will be dealing with certain problems that involve the police. The Unit is given a six-month period to investigate the matter and upon receiving results, such information will taken to the Tribunal and possibly to court.
Minister Pratt also informed that a strategic review of the RBPF undertaken in 1999 by CDR International, highlighted the piecemeal system that existed in the force for investigating complaints against the police. She noted that it was the view that such matters were not handled in an expedient manner and that delays came about because complaints were managed by three separate entities.
“It was proposed that this tri-partite arrangement should be amalgamated into one complaints branch with a saving in supervisory staff and a more focused approach to this important work, which would have the result of investigations being carried out more expeditiously and within reasonable time limits,” she said.
Minister Pratt further stated that two of the recommendations of this report included: That all complaints against the police are investigated by a single complaints branch headed by a civilian and that all investigations of complaints against the police, not involving court proceedings, should be completed within six months.
According to the National Security Minister, the introduction of a substantially independent authority is to ensure that the community and members of the police force alike, would benefit from this system.
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Farquharson, who was also present at the press conference, noted that the RBPF welcomes the civilian appointees, as their presence will bring “credibility” to the investigation of matters involving the public. He additionally stated that in the past, because of the volume of complaints and the limited amount of investigators, it took longer than necessary to investigate matters of corruption.
“It’s easier to bring complaints, once a member of the public registers a complaint. It’s credible to investigate it urgently and dispose of it one way or the other. In addition to the Deputy Commissioner overseeing the Complaints and Corruption Unit, this will be an addition where they (the Unit) will ensure that the process of investigating complaints is done very quickly,” said the police commissioner.
The role of the complaints and corruption branch, which has been administratively established, is to ensure a fully integrated approach to all aspects of implementing policy for the prevention, detection and treatment of corruption, dishonesty and unethical behaviour. Such a policy was developed in September 2000.
It is also the role of the branch, to put in place a pro-active strategy to deliver all facets of the policy and to seek out and deal with all potential breaches of the code of conduct. The branch is headed by a superintendent of police, whose role is to investigate every allegation thoroughly and prepare cases to be heard by the tribunal or by the courts of law, where evidence supports such actions.
There is also to be a civilian unit of the police complaints and corruption branch, which will be headed by a civilian. This individual will ensure that all cases are investigated properly; expeditiously completed within given time limits and appropriate conclusions are reached.
“It is envisaged that this unit will be given statutory privileges upon the passage of a proposed Bill for an Act to repeal the police act, which I propose to bring to parliament in early June 2003,” stated the National Security Minister.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
