Saturday, September 20, 2008

Ensuring Due Process for the community and junior officers.

Ensuring Due Process for the community and junior officers.
The Bermuda Police Service is a very exploitive institution. It amazes me that such an institution would be allowed to operate in such a modern community as Bermuda and get away with such corrupt and inhumane practices.

The oppressive conduct, behaviors and practice by senior officers are often ignored and go unaddressed, thus causing an element of fear and stress amount its ranks. This give rise to the large number of stress related illnesses that is suffered by members of this institution. It is believed that the Bermuda Police Service has the highest percentages of stress related illnesses for any institution in Bermuda (government and private sector)

There is a problem of negligence as it relates to complaint made by the public against members of the Bermuda Police Service, very often these complaints are ignored, and disregarded thus denying the complaining public due process.

Bermuda Police Service Oversight Committee (BPSOC)

The Governor as well as the minister of Home Affairs should ensure that the relevant instrument be put in place for a Bermuda Police Service Oversight Committee (BPSOC) to over see and ensure that members of the public and junior officers received (their complaints are investigated without prejudice) due process.

It should be the duty of the B.P.S.O.C to review every complaint that is made by members of the public, junior members of the Bermuda Police Service, ensuring that such allegations are investigated without bias and the complaints received due process.

The oversight committee on the request by a junior officer being charged can petitioned the BPSOC to review any discrepancies or action of wrong doing as it relates to any allegations brought against that officer. The BPSOC will only get involved in the review of a disciplinary investigation or action against a junior if the following condition was made:
1 The BPSRC must be requested by the accuse person or someone on behalf of the accuse person informing the committee that there may be an injustice that has happen or is likely to happen.

2 Just reason for such intervention should be provided and clearly stated and if it is possible evidence of this allegation of wrong doing should be presented or means of obtaining such evidence should be clearly stated.

The oversight committee should be endowed with the power to order an investigation into the allegations of wrong doing or potential wrong doing that merited the Oversight Committee’s intervention. If it was proven that an individual or group of individuals were responsible for conspiring to aid or cause a miscarriage of justice or any allegations off oppressive conduct can be proven the person or people involved should be charged for the same and be prosecuted in an internal tribunal for the matter. If it can be proven that there was a contravention of a criminal code, then that person may or may not be charge criminally.
Study by: Allan H. F. Palmer