The media houses – well some – are baying like hounds at the heels of Cayman Islands Police Commissioner to get rid of him.

Am I going to join them?

I have certainly had my reservations about Commissioner David Baines and said so, although I have supported him when I have felt he has acted correctly and even exemplary. I take the case when he rammed his car into the jewellery robbers getaway car when he spotted three men running from Diamonds International on New Years Day.

When some of the media jumped on him for hurting one of the robbers (who had what looked like a gun) I was somewhat nonplussed. I still am.

However, when it comes to his running of the police force, there are a lot of questions and not many answers.

The list is long.

1. 43 Statute-barred cases. These are cases that the RCIPS did not prosecute because the statute of limitations expired. In other words the RCIPS took too long to make a case. The deadline is 6 months.

And everyone keeps quiet about it. No reasons given. Apparently this is because police officers aren’t able to trace witnesses who have left the jurisdiction. But then that is the fault of the investigating officer isn’t it? It would appear that many of the case files that the Solicitor General’s department eventually do receive, is ‘statute- barred’. Again it is back to the police.

2.The GSR Contamination Mismanagement. This is Gunshot Residue. In August 2012 a memo written by former RCIPS Scientific Support Manager Martin Gaule and sent to Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Brougham said it was Gaule’s personal view that GSR evidence should be specifically restricted and that it “cannot safely be used to prove or disprove possession of a firearm where there is no suggestion that the weapon has been recently fired”.

The memo also suggested “widespread GSR contamination in RCIPS buildings and cars.”

3.The Search Warrant Debacle. This is where we have had police officers going to a justice of the peace who has signed search warrants without knowing what the crime was, or seeing any evidence to support it, obtaining wrong warrants, and attempting to execute a warrant before daylight in breach of the conditions.

4.The 18+ Police Vehicle Crashes per year. A FOI confirmed that the worst year for the police was 2012, when they had 20 cars involved in accidents!

5. Hiring and Payment of Policeman on Murder Charge. This is the recent case of Tyrone Findlay who was found guilty alongside another former Jamaican police officer of shooting and killing a man in 2010 when they were serving in the Jamaican police force. Findlay was recruited by the RCIPS in 2011 and served in the armed unit despite the allegations. Even though he was eventually suspended he was paid in full.

6. Missing Drugs and Firearms. A 29 September 2014 FOI reply by the RCIPS on questions relating to missing drugs in police custody elicited the following response:

“With the current record structure, cases are filed by number and are tracked individually. We have no document that states what drugs may or may not be missing.”

On further query the RCIPS stated that this response also applied to firearms.

7. No certificate of analysis of cocaine found on table and missing evidence. This is the case of Eduardo Swaby-Gutierrez, who received a sentence of 12 years imprisonment for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. There was evidence of cocaine on a knife and on a table. On appeal Justice Henderson found the Former Chief Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale had erred and Swaby-Gutierrez was given a lighter sentence of possession.

The judge accepted Swaby-Gutierrez’s attorney Peter Polack’s submission there was no certificate of analysis for what had been referred to as particles of cocaine found on a table.

8. Illegal roadblocks. “The Constitution guarantees freedom of movement and the police should only stop the citizens of this country in any public place on suspicion of commission of an offence. The Department of Vehicle Licensing has an available database with any expired coupons and the police should not be detaining citizens for this purpose,” Polack said – see iNews Cayman story “The Editor Speaks: Should police randomly check persons from their roadblocks?” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/the-editor-speaks-should-police-randomly-check-persons-from-their-roadblocks/

Polack said “he and many other drivers were detained by officers, despite committing no crimes, in a traffic check close to the cricket ground in George Town at about 10:30 pm on Saturday 11 October”.

9. Policeman Flees Accident Scene. “At about 1:40am on Friday 14 September 2012, police received a report of a one vehicle road crash in Ithmar Circle, George Town. The driver left the scene of the crash,” the police spokesperson stated. “Later that morning a 54-year-old police officer was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident. He has been released on police bail while enquiries continue.”

And what happened after the enquiries? Is this officer still on the force?

10. Police Financial Crime Unit Forced to Return Seized Cash. This is back to #7 where Eduardo Swaby-Gutierrez got his money back when the FCU was forced to apply to the Grand Court to have their own seizure order revoked.

“The original seizure order was entirely predicated on the conviction. When the conviction was quashed the Financial Crime Unit and Customs had no recourse but to facilitate return of the funds. To be fair, neither the Customs nor the unsuspecting Financial Crime Unit were aware their hard work would be for naught due to the missing evidence,” Peter Polack said.

11. Increase in Complaints Against Police. Public complaints to the RCIPS more than doubled during 2009 when compared to the previous two years. In 2007 there were 87 complaints made by the public to the Police Professional Standards Unit (PSU), and in 2008 there were 93. However, in 2009 the complaints soared to 197.

12. Failure to Set Up Police Public Complaints Authority. There is an ongoing lack of accountability, oversight or independent audit for contract renewals by the Commissioner of Police.

The four year old legislation that created the Police Public Complaints Authority remains unimplemented by the Commissioner of Police.

13. Police Failure to Prosecute Policeman. A former Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officer was allowed to resign from the department rather than face criminal charges over his alleged activities while employed with the police service, according to a lawsuit filed over the ex-cop’s “purported dismissal”. See Cayman Compass story: http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/07/29/Lawsuit–Police-let-cop-walk-on–offences-/

14. Police Financial Crime Unit Evidence Failure Case Dismissed. This is the trial of Fernando Mendes, accused of stealing US$132,807.43 from Finab Ltd. see iNews Cayman story “Cayman Islands police failures over material evidence halts trial” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-islands-police-failures-over-material-evidence-halts-trial/

Justice Quin in not allowing the case to proceed said:

“This Court is very disturbed by the extremely late and incomplete disclosure of electronic data from FINAB.

“FINAB has given contradictory accounts regarding the existence or not of emails.

Disclosure provided at the end of July 2014 is incomplete and, therefore, the entire disclosure exercise is inherently flawed.

“ln addition to my criticism of the conduct of FINAB and AF in not providing full disclosure to support their serious allegations against the Defendant, I am also concerned by the apparent lack of support that the RCIPS has given to the DPP in this case. This is a concern that I have expressed on previous occasions. It is imperative that Senior Investigating Officers liaise closely with crown counsel to ensure that discovery/disclosure is carefully examined and to ensure that it is as full and as complete as possible.

“In this case it was the duty of the RCIPS to carry out an open minded and independent investigation to discover whether AF’s allegations against the Defendant were true or untrue.”

He also said it should have been obvious to the FCU that “material was missing and was vital in order to properly investigate the allegations made against the Defendant”.

Justice Quin’s final words were:

“Just as there was a duty on FINAB and AF to provide full disclosure of electronic data from after 2006 and, particularly from the 30th June 2009 to the 11th January 2011 there was also a duty on the RCIPS to collect and retain all the FINAB data and documentation in relation to the allegations made by FINAB and AF.

“The RCIPS FCU failed to seize significant and relevant material at the time of the defendant’s arrest. I find that the FCU has failed to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry and therefore has failed to obtain and retain material which may well serve to undermine the Crown’s case and assist the defence.

“This failure has led to a serious prejudice which, in my view, renders it impossible for the Defendant to have a fair trial, particularly some five years after the time the offences are alleged to have been committed, and, three and a half years after his arrest. Consequently there has been a serious fault so as to render it unfair to try the Defendant for the offence on this Indictment.”

15. Missing Video Evidence From Central Police Station- Case Dismissed. Three charges of assaulting police against Raziel Jeffers were dismissed on 6 October, after video tape evidence was lost by police.

The charges stemmed from matters allegedly transpiring while the defendant was in police custody. However, the matter was unable to proceed after the tape containing the evidence was recorded over.

16.The Missing Persons on a Small Island

 

As I said, the list is long and none of it makes good reading for the police.

If MLA Bernie Bush gets to read this he might actually approve of me after all. He has stated that unless the commissioner of police is dismissed or resigns from his post immediately he will be bringing a no confidence motion to the Legislative Assembly to get backing to have Baines removed from his job.

Premier Alden McLaughlin has urged LA members to “exercise restraint regarding Commissioner of Police”. He said, “If we act in haste we are likely to repent at our own expense.”

He has urged all members to “exercise patience to enable me to discuss this matter with Her Excellency the Governor and to give her the opportunity to address the concerns raised.”

The governor is out of office until next Monday.

Perhaps that is the wisest choice….?