Let's Help and Support The Police to Weed-out All of The Corrupt Policemen From The Ranks of The Royal Bahamas Police Force - Bishop Delton Fernander

Say NO to Corrupt Police Officers in The Bahamas!

By Dennis Dames
Nassau, The Bahamas

I wonder if the president of The Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) in his laid-back defense of The Royal Bahamas Police Force in the investigation of one of their senior top Officers - relating to serious alledge crimes - was speaking casually as a Bahamian, a member of the Masonic Lodge family in The Bahamas, or a pastor. He is wearing so many hats these days - and he has now found himself in the line of fire of the Bahamian public that wants the Johnson investigation to be favourably beyond distrust and national contempt.

Bishop Fernander must be a resident of a another planet. He has obviously not been keeping-up with all the scandals of devilish criminal acts coming out of the ranks of the RBPF in recent times. Senior Officers have been recorded in the acts of committing serious crimes - like, assisting in the unloading of dangerous and illicit drugs from the plane of drug traffickers!

Bishop Delton Fernander, ask the Commissioner of Police - Clayton Fernander about the huge amount of Police Officers he had to fire or send home - because of their dirty and outrageous criminal actions! Ask the Commissioner of Police about the number of Officers of the Force who were recently cited by the Coroners Courts for manslaughter! Yes, the Bahamian Police have illegally killed many of our Bahamian brothers like dogs on the streets of The Bahamas in recent times.

Bishop Fernander, do you really think the Commissioner of Police can lead a fair and balanced investigation against his good old buddy, Chief Superintendent Johnson - who he said publicly was the man for the job? Do you actually think that it's only about Chief Superintendent Johnson, and not about the entire Force? It does not seem that you are thinking straight, or dealing with a full deck these days. What a shame!

What kind of salvation the masonic lodge provides you that our Living Lord does not? What is the connection between the Redemption of our Living Messiah and the masonic lodge - which you are a member and brethern of?

Bishop Fernander, why are you under the impression that corruption and criminality on the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) are not endemic there? The streets of The Bahamas know better than that Bishop.

The Police Force in the Bahamian nation is in a distressful crisis, so is the national security of The Bahamas - Bishop! Corruption and criminality is alive and well in the ranks of that organization - in my view.

Policemen in The Bahamas have been found with illegal weapons in recent times - Bishop. Who controls the illegal guns in our nation Bishop?

Policemen are in our jail for raping their underage family members - while still active members of the Force. Policemen are in our prison for all manner of horrible crimes before they were fired from the Force.

Policemen have skiped the country recently to avoid answering for their wicked crimes - bishop. So, you did not convince me and most citizens that the Chief Johnson always acted alone in his alleged crimes while being the chief of the Criminal Detective Unit (CDU) of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

There is no doubt that the very many of Bahamian Police men and women are honourable and righteous people, but the actively rogue among them are eroding the already frigile integrity of The Royal Bahamas Police Force. All of them must be weeded out in order to restore the public's trust and confidence in The Force.

The good Officers there will rejoice fittingly - if such a noble thing become a joyful reality. Thus Bishop, let's help them celebrate! Let's let it be known as one people - that bossman Johnson investigation must be and appear to be just in the eyes of the Bahamian people. The good future of The Bahamas and its Police Force depend on it.

The Bahamas police are doing their job, but the Bahamian courts are soft on law breakers

Tough laws promised to keep criminals in prison

tribune242 editorial

Nassau, The Bahamas



AN EXASPERATED Police Commissioner yesterday called for stiffer penalties for law breakers.

He said that criminals were not taking the law seriously because punishments were too light. In other words criminals were just playing a catch-me-if-you can game with the police, while wreaking vengeance on society.

The Commissioner was asked by the press whether the police were doing enough to stop the bloodshed -- which with 100 murders made Bahamian history over the weekend. As we wrote this column last night a report flashed across our screen that two more persons- a man and a woman- had just been shot in Nassau Village. They were taken to hospital - the man in serious condition, the woman stable.

One could almost see the Commissioner biting his tongue at yesterday's conference as he tried to gingerly skirt the reporter's question.

He said police officers were arresting the suspects, but after a person was charged it was out of their hands and up to the courts. He said he did not want to speak on the issue in too much detail.

He might not want to elaborate on what is a sore point in police ranks, but we shall do it for him.

The answer simply put is: The police are doing their job, but the courts are not.

Let's look at a five-day period to give our readers some idea of what is happening.

Between July 12 and 17th this year 39 prisoners were released from HM Prison by the courts.

Of this number 22 of them were in prison on remand. The courts gave them bail and released them.

Of these, six were charged with murder and at least three of them went before the magistrate's court with a well established criminal record.

Also among the 22 released onto the streets within a five-day period were persons charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, armed robbery, rape, housebreaking, possession of firearms and drugs, causing grievous harm, fraud and forgery. Many of them have prison records, most of them for violence. Four of them were fitted with electronic monitoring devices.

Examining their records it is obvious that they have been sent back into society without any hope of finding a job or earning an honest crust of bread to keep them alive until their court date. And so what do they do?

We leave it to our readers to answer that question. It is easy to connect the dots and understand what is happening in the country. Commissioner Greenslade has already connected the dots, but does not want to talk about the picture they present -- at least not in public.

In an England gone soft on law breakers, a sudden outbreak, mainly by youth, of rioting and destruction last month, quickly brought legislators to their senses. Vowing to stop the "slow-motion moral collapse" of his country, Prime Minister David Cameron demanded stiff penalties for law breakers. The courts immediately responded, so much so that the weak-hearted are sniffling that the law is going too far. But Cameron is taking no nonsense. He has vowed to introduce laws to "crack down on lawlessness and promote a responsible society."

He directed his cabinet to look for ways to combat a "broken society" in which "fathers had abdicated responsibility for their children, schools had given up on discipline and crimes had gone unpunished."

The courts' harsh sentences were intended to reflect the authorities' anger at the looting, burning and murder that raged through London and spread to other cities.

For example, a mother who was given a pair of shorts stolen by a rioter was jailed for five months, a student went to prison for six months for stealing a box of bottled water worth about $4, while a man was jailed for four years for posting a message on Facebook to encourage people to start a riot. Courts also remanded defendants in custody until their court hearing.

Mr Cameron was pleased that the courts had sent a tough message by stiff sentences. Across the country courts were working extra hours to deal with the offenders, which moved into the thousands.

Police Commissioner Greenslade wants sanctions tough enough to make persons afraid to carry a gun in this country because they would know that they would be removed from their family and friends for a very long time.

Since the courts don't seem inclined to step up to the plate, when the House of Assembly returns from its summer break on October 5 government plans to introduce a number of new Bills to prevent violent, repeat offenders from getting bail.

"We hope that we will provide some teeth, some additional resource, to keep these criminals behind bars," said National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest.

Some Bahamians are so agitated by the seeming indifference of the courts, that they are now suggesting that maybe there are those in the system who are trying to embarrass the government.

The situation is bad, but we hope that it is not that bad.

September 20, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamas: Policing before Farm Road

BEFORE the Farm Road Project was started in June 2002 -- which later evolved into Urban Renewal -- active community policing was making itself felt. So much so that the Eastern Division Pacesetters, launched from the Elizabeth Estates Police Station, had already won the first international police award for the Bahamas.

The presentation --in which the Bahamas placed second in the competition -- was made by the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police in 2001.

The Tribune was also presented with a plaque as the first partner to join the Pacesetters and introduce them to the public. Other newspapers and many other partners followed.

And so we can write with first hand knowledge about the Pacesetters and their programme to promote "The Police are my friends!" theme and take active door-to-door policing to a community. It was an initiative of which the whole community was aware and from which it saw positive results.

"The Police are my friends!" initiative was first introduced by ASP Shannondor Evans in 1998 in Freeport where he was Officer in Charge of the Eastern Division of the Grand Bahama District.

He was later transferred to Nassau and posted at the Eastern Division-- Elizabeth Estates Police Station. It was here that the Eastern Division Pacesetters was born. The object was to promote through many initiatives the idea that the police were the friends of the community. It was an effort to build a partnership between the police and the community.

Mr Evans had the ingredients of a successful programme, but he had to find a vehicle from which to launch it. One day he arrived at The Tribune and met with Godfrey Arthur, our advertising manager. Mr Evans, is an officer one has to take seriously. So fired with enthusiasm was he that he immediately caught Mr Arthur's attention. The idea was then brought to us and in no time The Tribune was on board with a weekly programme that lasted over a year. At first it started small with weekly announcements of meetings. Then it branched out into space given to introduce, with photographs, the various police officers in the programme and different members of the community who agreed that the police were indeed their friends. It caught the public's attention.

The object was to train the community to become aware of and accept the fact that 4,000 police officers, members of the Reserves and civilians could not police 300,000 people adequately, unless the people wanted to be policed and were an integral part of the project.

After spending four months training his officers, ASP Evans and his men took to the streets. They visited every home and business in the Eastern Division -- a total of 8,512 homes.

As a result of increased housebreaking complaints occurring in the eastern area, ASP Evans launched an initiative to ensure the presence of more police officers on the streets, through track roads and in the bushes. He planned to conduct the exercise one day a week for five weeks. Between 30 to 40 officers were deployed each week and their orders were to take an "aggressive approach toward preventing crimes."

His appeal for financial support was copied to leading residents in the eastern division. One of the names on the list was that of Dr Bernard Nottage -- and so no one could say this programme was politically motivated because those of all political persuasions cooperated.

ASP Evans had committed himself to providing lunch for the officers to prevent them leaving the area. He was, therefore, appealing to leading citizens in his division for "lunch" money. In his letter of appeal he announced that the late Roger Carron, The Tribune's director, had already provided lunch for the first day out. Others followed.

Mr Francis Cancino of the Amoury company recalls one weekend sitting with his family on his porch when up rolled Mr Evans and his team on bicycles. Mr Evans introduced himself and explained the team's mission. "He impressed me quite a bit," Mr Cancino will tell you today. "He gave out pamphlets with very good tips for the homeowner," Mr Cancino said. These were brochures with crime tips and a questionnaire. As a result Mr Cancino was also a supporter and helped with donations, among them computers. Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette and his wife, Robin, were also enthusiastic backers, giving of their time and finances. Mrs Symonette worked closely with the children, and provided gifts at Christmas.

Said Godfrey Arthur, who lives in the Eastern Division: "You could see the morale of the Elizabeth Estates station improve. After Mr Evans' transfer to the Police College we have seen an increase in petty theft and home invasions in our area. When he was in charge there was a policeman in your area every hour on the hour. He attended all the town meetings and was present for all the Crime Watch committee meetings. His team was responsible for the decrease in petty crime -- the man was on the job day and night. He made certain that his division was patrolled."

Today, said Mr Arthur, "we no longer even see the 'Police are our friends!' signs in our district."

However, this is the type of programme that each division needs if a dent is to be made in crime.

November 24, 2009

tribune242

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Bahamas: Politicians 'highjacked' community policing

WE TALKED with several Bahamians this weekend about Urban Renewal and its effectiveness. There were many opinions, but all agreed that the programme was doomed from the beginning because it was bogged down in politics.

"You must remember," said one sarcastically, "what is now Urban Renewal started as the Farm Road project when a few policemen were strategically placed to impress the people. No Urban Renewal was on anyone's mind when that happened. The Farm Road project was solely to secure a seat for a politician."

In fact, said another Bahamian, community policing was "highjacked" by the politicians.

It was only when the police went into Farm Road and discovered such squalor in some of the homes that urban renewal was born and eventually the programme spread to other inner cities.

Instead of the police going into communities and discovering what was wrong and instructing the responsible government department to correct it, police found themselves directing home repairs, cleaning up garbage, and generally being involved in non-police work.

Another person did not see much change in the Urban Renewal programme when it came under the FNM-- other than the police being removed from school campuses.

The person felt that it was the parents' responsibility --not that of the police -- to make certain that their child did not go to school with a weapon.

"A lie is being foisted on the Bahamian people that Urban Renewal is dead. This is simply not true," said one police officer. "The programme has not been stopped, however, it has been changed."

He said the police had been providing the leadership.

However, when other organisations took their rightful place in the programme, the police stepped back and returned to their policing duties.

However, they continued to support the programme wherever their assistance was required.

The officer did not agree that the police should have ever been on the school campus. "It undermines the authority of the school principal and the school's staff," he said. However, although no police officer is stationed on the campus, an effective school programme with the police involved is still in place.

Each school has direct contact with the nearest police station and the police are on call whenever needed.

There are also programmes in place to give children police protection early in the morning when they arrive at school and in the afternoon when they are leaving. Police also supervise children who have been suspended from class. The police contact the parents, and have a programme to which the parents take their child for police supervision for as long as they have been banned from the classroom. These children are not wandering the streets. They are very much under police control.

But for politicians to say that Urban Renewal is dead or that protection is not being given to the schools, "is just intellectual dishonesty," was this officer's opinion.

However, another Bahamian saw what should have been a 24-hour community service being turned into a 9am to 5pm job for a civil servant. "They took the police out and flooded us with all these experts," he said. "In the social services you'd be surprised how many hands a request has to go through just to get one thing approved. In every department the public service is very weak."

What this country needs is dedicated community policing where police and people come together, united by a common goal.

Community policing was started long before politicians conjured up the controversial urban renewal programme. It was launched and managed by the police and in the areas where it was being developed, it was very successful.

We were intimately involved with the Nassau programme and gave considerable news space to a similar programme organised in Cat Island.

There was ASP Shannondor Evans, spearheading a programme from the police station in Elizabeth Estates, and Supt. Stephen Dean organising a student band and youth clubs in Cat Island. Both programmes were successful -- regardless of political affiliation residents were working with the police towards a common goal.

Cat Island, we were told, was a good example of how community programmes could make a difference. Faculty and staff at the Cat Island school commented on how the music programmes in particular had helped improve students' grades. It was thought that because of these programmes, students had become more focused.

Tomorrow we shall describe in more detail Mr Evans' successful programme in the Eastern division. This area included Prince Charles, Sea Breeze, Fox Hill Road and the Eastern Road.

There are probably many police men and women who are well versed in community policing. We know of two -- ASP Evans, and Superintendent Dean, who represents the Bahamas on the community policing committee of the International Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police. And we have heard of a third -- Supt. Carolyn Bowe.

These are the people whose skills and enthusiasm should be utilised in helping to coordinate and spread such programmes.

November 23, 2009

tribune242

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International