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The Nation Newspaper - Bridget
23 March 2008

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The Caribbean - Police abuse a

THE EXCESSIVE USE of force by Caribbean policemen, Barbadians included, seems to be a standard practice in fighting crime.

According to the United States State Department, in almost every Caribbean country, the problem is the same: heavy-handed tactics, such as beatings to extract confessions and solve criminal acts.

Even worst, in some countries, police are said to be extremely corrupt while in others people complain, some of men in uniform masterminding kidnappings, murder and drug trafficking.

Little wonder, then, that public confidence in a number of countries, Barbados excluded, was said to be at low ebb. Barbadians, according to the report, seem to maintain their faith in the police.

That seems to be the case also in Grenada, where the police officers aren't noted for routine abuse even though they are sometimes accused of using excessive force. But no, they aren't blamed for extra-judicial killings.

Unlike police officers in some of their neighbouring countries, Barbadian cops apparently limit their misconduct to occasional abuse, or as the United States human rights report said, "the majority of complaints against the police alleged unprofessional conduct and beating or assault.

Occasional abuse

Police were occasionally accused of beating suspects to obtain confessions, and suspects often recanted the confessions during their trial."

As a matter of fact, in far too many cases in Barbados, the only evidence against accused suspects was a confession.

But in Guyana, the problem with went much further. For one thing, "public confidence in and cooperation with the police remained low," the report stated. For another, the authorities received written complaints about five killings involving cops during 2007.

As if those weren't bad enough, the force itself was hit by "poor training, poor equipment and acute budgetary constraints," all of which severely limit its "effectiveness."

Guyanese cops were also slammed for neglecting their duties, misbehaving in public, making unlawful arrests, wrongful seizure of vehicles and guns, corruption, and "unnecessary use of force."

Jamaica's police officers also suffer from a basic lack of public trust and the State Department traced it to what the report called "the perception of corruption and impunity within the force."

In addition, allegations of extra-judicial killings by the police and the security forces and the seeming inability to solve many of the killings have cast cops in an very poor light.

Some 218 people were killed in incidents in which the police used "lethal force" last year, triggering complaints about "police murder" in Jamaica. Admittedly, many of the charges against cops lacked supportive evidence.

Homicide rate

To add to the police's woes, they were being called upon to reduce what was the world's highest homicide rate; work without the necessary modern equipment; and fight drug and gun running gangs that were better armed than the security forces and who even mounted coordinated attacks against police officers.

Allegations of police killings of suspects were also plaguing Trinidad and Tobago. Last year, 29 people died while in custody or at the hands of law enforcement authorities but investigations of the circumstances of the deaths were often slow and seldom led to charges or convictions.

That's not all. The police were accused of carrying out some of the same crimes they were called upon to investigate and solve, such as kidnappings and trafficking.

To make matters worse, the complaints authority in Port-of-Spain which is supposed to monitor officers' conduct and investigate charges of wrongdoing has little clout to get the job done and that in turn has virtually eliminated any public confidence in the process.

The State Department reserved some of its harshest comments for Haiti's National Police (HNP), accusing it of participating in unlawful killings and kidnappings and making arbitrary threats and arrests.

Corruption

The HNP has its hands full in cracking down on corruption. Last May, it seized almost 1 000 pounds of cocaine and arrested 11 alleged traffickers, four of whom turned out to be cops.

If there is a positive side to all of this it is the force's ability to discipline officers. At least 700 cops in a force of 8 949 were fired because of "malfeasance."

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The Nation Newspaper - Bridget23 March 2008

The Caribbean - Police abuse a

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The Nation Newspaper - Bridget
23 March 2008