Eleven police killings

The killing of 20-year-old Kenneth Hamilton on Tuesday morning is the latest incident crying out for such an enquiry. The police say that Hamilton was killed when, on responding to a report of a gangland shooting, they returned fire at two men who had shot at them. The people in the neighbourhood say that there was no gangland shooting and that the police shot Hamilton when he did not stop when ordered. Newsday’s reporter also observed that there were no bloodstains in the spot where Hamilton was allegedly killed.

This is not the first time that ordinary citizens have given completely different versions to the police about such events. The Galene Bonadie case was only one such incident which received particular publicity because it was a middle-aged woman, not a young male, who was killed. In such matters, more credence automatically attaches to the eyewitnesses’ version than to the police’s. This is because citizens don’t usually have any reason to impugn the police, whereas if the officers have killed or brutalised someone without good cause, they have every reason to lie.

The police for this year have so far killed 11 persons — an average of about two a month. Given our high crime rate, it is entirely possible that all these killings were justified. We are well aware of the way relatives react whenever the most notorious criminals kill each other. Immediately the bad guys are canonised and are hailed as "very good, kind men."

But, given the tendency of officers to abuse their power, it is also entirely possible that some of these killings may have been outright murders. The only way to settle such matters is to have thorough investigations of the incidents.

But the Police Complaints Authority is a joke, while the Police Service Commission seems to be a dead letter.

Commissioner Paul himself appears to lack the will to deal with errant officers, even when there is no doubt about their transgressions. Just last month, we called for action to be taken against three policemen after 18-year-old Devon Sookdeo won damages against the State for beatings inflicted on him by police officers. Has Commissioner Paul dealt with these officers? If not, why not? And what is the status of the investigation into the police gun which went missing from the St James station, only to turn up in the hands of bandits? What has he done about the two officers who were on a kidnapping charge but freed because the main witness didn’t show up in court?

It seems as though the CoP talks a good talk, but can’t walk the walk. Given this absence of spine, effective systems must be put in place to deal with such matters. In developed societies, there are set procedures that officers must go through each time they discharge their firearms. If the officers cannot justify the use of their weapon, they are disciplined or fired or charged, according to the severity of their transgression. Similarly, if officers are found to have committed perjury or to have abused prisoners, they are investigated.

These systems are by no means perfect, but they do help reduce abuse and corrupt activities by police officers. This country’s crime rate would not have risen so high if the police were not part of the problem. And, until the government takes serious action to ensure that police officers are not acting like criminals, we cannot be assured that they are serious about fighting crime.