Witness fails to appear in court – accused set free, absent witness faces no penalty…. Welcome to Barbados!

Nothing to do with this case… just an illustration of reality when the police make witnesses’ names known!

Intimidating a witness is standard operating procedure in Barbados.

Five years for a marijuana case to come to trial in Barbados!!!

The Court should have issued a warrant for the arrest of the witness and dug into the “why” behind the witness failing to show. This happens time and time again and undermines everything from the police to the court.

Magistrate Douglas Frederick dismissed a 2010 case in the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court today, after a police witness who was supposed to testify was absent from court.

Hezron Joseph Williams, who was previously charged with possession, trafficking and intent to supply marijuana in October 2010, was therefore free to go.

Williams, 27, resides at Hutson Alley, Reed Street, The City.

When the case came up for hearing in the morning, Station Sergeant Neville Watson said he expected the witness to be at court by midday.

When it was called again in the afternoon and the prosecutor was questioned by the Magistrate, he said he still had not heard from the witness.

Magistrate Frederick determined that “unless he (the witness) has a reasonable excuse or some type of emergency, the case would have to be viewed differently”.

He therefore dismissed the matter.

Disgusting!

Will Barbados hang Police Constable Everton Gittens?

Unarmed and shot in the back. Just another day with the Barbados Police.

For the first time that anyone can remember, we have a police constable charged with murder. Everton Gittens was arrested and charged and appeared in court yesterday for the murder of Selwyn Knight at Dash Gap, Bank Hall.

Rumours are that Selwyn Knight and his father were shot in the back as they pursued Gittens’ homosexual lover Jamal Skeete who had broken into their home. Folks who read this blog know that I Robert don’t care who anybody sleeps with, or how many people they sleep with, or how many people they sleep with all at once. You want to be friends with Cliverton, you have to accept that the man will sleep with anything that breathes and I’m not even sure to draw the line that close.

But, the moment you bring emotions into the equation when somebody has their finger on a trigger, well mister, as they say that is serious business. And if the man holding the gun is a cop, that’s another layer, or perhaps another lawyer.

Rumours are that there is a video of the shooting made by a security camera, but that Gittens himself destroyed the recording. (So says Sheri Veronica an she’s plugged in everywhere)

As Sheri Veronica made note, Gittens is the same police constable involved in the Shanique Myrie case, and the court rejected his evidence as not the truth.

For too long ’bout this place police have done what they want to do and gotten away with it. That’s one of the problems when you have a little rock like this with 275,000 people on it and call it a country. Cabals take over everything including justice and policing.

We’ve had other police officers shoot people in the back before with no charges. It’s even dangerous in Barbados to run away from police if you’re unarmed on your bicycle.

But here’s the big deal… this is the Caribbean and some folks want to hang Gittens because he supposedly had a man for a lover.

If Barbados is going to hang Gittens, it should be for murder and nothing else.

But this is the Caribbean and there’s nothing you can do ’bout that.

US Tourist robbed, says Barbados police conduct “shocking”

Police demanded victim change his official statement to match another witness statement!

Why this visitor will not be returning to Barbados

by Fred Kraxberger, US Citizen

Dear Barbados Free Press,

On 02/09/2011 while fishing at Archers Bay, St. Lucy, Barbados around 7 to 7:15 PM my Bajan friend and I (a US citizen) were the victims of a robbery, and our lives threatened by a Bajan man with a machete.  He also told us he would shoot us if we did not do what he said.  We did as he said.  He got a cell phone and cash.  This is not the first time this man has robbed someone, he knew what he was doing.

When the Crab Hill Police arrived they did a short interview with us.  When I was told that I could go and retrieve our belongings, I went back to the scene of the robbery.  One officer was there when I got there.  He did not have a flashlight on.  I ask him if it was ok to pickup my things because he had not been down there that long.  He said it was ok.  I picked up my fishing light so that I could find our belongings.  I noticed something that was not there before the robbery.  I pointed it out to the officer and told him that it must have come from the robber.  He ignored me.

Barbados High Court Judge: Public execution murders and witnesses won’t testify, undermining courts.

When the police cannot or will not protect witnesses, can we expect anything else?

High court Justice Randall Worrell (above) is worried about a trend that is undermining our court system and threatening the very fabric of our society: after witnessing their friends murdered on the street in execution-style killings, witnesses don’t want to testify to the point that they are changing their stories or running off the island.

Well, do ya think? Consider that most of the time when the police are called, they take their own sweet time to arrive. A month or so ago there was a gun battle at a football match in Boscobel and the police never arrived for almost an hour! At the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary shots were fired the police never came at all.

Kammie Holder: Give our police their due, they should be our “Police Service” and not “Police Force”

In his Friday column in The Nation, Kammie Holder gives praise to the men and women of our Royal Barbados Police Force and throws a barb at those (including BFP) who don’t temper their criticism of the police with praise.

We at BFP plead guilty to the offence, but we’ll leave it be and just say that Kammie has a point.

Kammie also has a point that words matter. He says that the police FORCE should change it’s name to reflect a new approach. According to Kammie, the Royal Barbados Police Force should change its name to Royal Barbados Police Service.

For the record, we at BFP agree.

Also for the record, dump the phrase “reassure” from the RBPF slogan. We don’t want “reassurance” – we want RESULTS and a safe community.

Please visit The Nation link here to read what Kammie has to say.

BUT… we’ll reprint Kammie’s column in full so that when The Nation wants to change history again by deleting or modifying what they published, at least this post will exist…

Barbados Commissioner of Police accused of illegal wiretapping

UPDATED: April 28, 2012

BFP revisits another one of those ‘dropped off the face of the earth’ stories.

Can anyone tell us the outcome of Commissioner of Police Dottin being accused of illegal wiretapping two years ago? The whole story just disappeared from the Bajan news media. Maybe we missed the final story… maybe Dottin was proven innocent? OR… was some secret resolution arrived at?

Welcome to the Bajan news media – your filter on the world whether you know it or not…

Original story published June 28, 2010…

Police Commissioner Dottin claims “national security” as reason for non-disclosure of wiretaps.

A suspended Royal Barbados Police Force officer claims in an affidavit before the Supreme Court that Commissioner Darwin Dottin conducted illegal wiretapping against him during an internal investigation. (See The Nation article Phone Bug? – also at the end of this article)

There is little doubt that police wiretapping of RBPF Inspector Anderson Bowen’s phone conversations happened. Bowen states in his affidavit that Commissioner Dottin played the phone recordings for him during an internal investigation interview. The phone tappings took place at Bowen’s home, his mother’s home and at Black Rock police station.

Whatever alleged crime that Commissioner Dottin was investigating, our primary concern is whether or not this wiretapping was legal. I mean, our police can’t just go off and wiretap anyone they want to …or can they?

FREE National Concert – Healing of the Nation – this Saturday, June 19, 2010

IMPORTANT UPDATE – Location Change!

Hail Brethren and Sistren

It has been confirmed that the Healing of the Nation will be relocated to ISRAEL LOVELL FOUNDATION, My Lord’s Hill, St. Michael. For those of us concerned as to why for the venue change, let it be known that the Royal Barbados Police Force has denied permission to have the event in the public space at Jubilee Gardens.

The Failure of DLP and BLP Governments to protect Bajans from dangerous & drunk drivers

Former Useless Transport Minister Gline Clark, Former Useless Attorneys General Mia Mottley & Dale Marshall

Successive Barbados Governments all talk as drunken road slaughter continues

The first job of government is to protect the citizens, and successive BLP and DLP governments have failed to protect the citizens when it comes to people who drink and drive.

Six dead at the Joes River tour bus crash, four more dead in the Emancipation Day crash and others. But in these and other serious crashes since, aside from an autopsy, Barbados Police have no way of proving how much an involved driver has been drinking.

That is because our government has been negligent in providing the legal structure and the equipment that the police need to protect us all.

… from the BFP article Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

The Barbados Labour Party had three terms and 14 years to deal with the slaughter on our roads and they did nothing. Barbados has no effective anti-drinking and driving laws. Short of a driver being falling down drunk, our police have no recourse because there are no laws to enforce. Even with a mass traffic death our police have no law to compel a driver to prove their sobriety, and no equipment even if such laws existed.

As Transport Minister in 2006, Gline Clarke talked about banning the use of cell phones while driving and of introducing breathalyzer laws and equipment. Mia Mottley and Dale Marshall both promised to introduce breathalyzer laws – but those promises were only words that came up every time we had a mass road death.

Nothing by shite talking, for sure.

As a matter of fact, let’s change the photos to reflect reality, shall we? Here is a photo of the three promising to do something about the road slaughter…

There. That’s a much truer picture of these three who pretended to care, who pretended to be doing something about the road slaughter. They are LIARS who promised breathalyser laws and hands-free cell phone laws for drivers. Check out their own BLP blog if you don’t believe us!

Now let’s look at the current bunch of do-nothings.

Minister of Public Works and Transport John Boyce has had almost two years to implement breathalyzer legislation and other needed changes to the road traffic regulations but has done nothing. Oh ya, in the weekend papers Boyce says he’s “talking” about changes with the police.

That’s nice.

That’s also what Mottley and Arthur and Clark and Marshall said once a year every year.

I guess it must be that time of year with the DLP government because they talked about these changes last year too.

Attorney General Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister David Thompson and Transport Minister John Boyce have blood on their hands and instead of action we see more of the same promises that we’ve been seeing from successive governments for two decades.

You can believe Stuart, Thompson and Boyce if you want to. I’d love to be proven wrong – but I don’t believe a word they say anymore.

Further Reading

October 4, 2009 – Nation News: Cops’ Call

October 4, 2009 – Nation News: Put brakes on cells

September 13, 2009: Which DLP Government Official wrote this Barbados Advocate Editorial?

November 22, 2008: Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

November 22, 2007 – Five Year Sentence For Dangerous Driver – But Still No Breathalyzer Law

October 30, 2007 – More Road Deaths Than Murders: Yet Barbados Still Does Not Have Breathalyzer Laws Or Technology

August 15, 2007 – Minister of Transport Gline Clarke Finally “Talking” About Driver Breathaliser Tests – As First Suggested By By Barbados Free Press Over A Year Ago

July 25, 2006 – Barbados Government To Ban Cell Phones While Driving

Which DLP Government Official wrote this Barbados Advocate Editorial? (or should we say “this DLP Advertisement”?)

“… At present, the government is doing all it can to improve road safety and traffic flow. However no improvement will have any effect if Barbadians continue to drive reckless!”

… from the Barbados Advocate newspaper editorial Slow Down!

The Barbados Advocate declares war on criticism of the DLP Thompson Government

That’s it folks. No further comment is needed about the government’s policies and actions concerning road safety, roads or traffic flow. The editors of the Barbados Advocate have looked into everything and declared “the government is doing all it can…”

Yup. That’s it right there. Might as well shut down the blogs, the competitive Nation newspaper and disband the Barbados Road Safety Association. The Barbados Advocate says the government has it all under control and “is doing all it can…”

Were Transport Drivers Drinking Or Hung Over? Barbados Police Lack Breathaliser Equipment & Laws To Properly Investigate The Accident

Strangely absent from the editorial is any mention of the absence of modern drinking and driving laws in Barbados despite promises by successive DLP and BLP governments over the last 25 years. Also absent is any acknowledgment that we pay our police officers so little that we are one hundred officers under authorized strength. Very few quality people want to be a Barbados police officer and that shortage means that traffic enforcement is neglected.

The worst of it is that when a serious motor vehicle accident happens, our police officers lack the laws, technology and training to determine if alcohol played a factor. Barbados Free Press has been calling for breathaliser laws and equipment for the police for approaching four years now. In that time we have seen some horrible accidents and even mass fatal accidents – but our law enforcement officers still have no way of testing to see how much those drivers had been drinking. Short of falling down drunk, there is no law against drinking and driving in Barbados.

As we said almost a year ago when we criticised the Thompson DLP government for doing nothing about the slaughter on our roads…

The first job of government is to protect the citizens, and successive BLP and DLP governments have failed to protect the citizens when it comes to people who drink and drive.

Six dead at the Joes River tour bus crash, four more dead in the Emancipation Day crash and others. But in these and other serious crashes since, aside from an autopsy, Barbados Police have no way of proving how much an involved driver has been drinking.

That is because our government has been negligent in providing the legal structure and the equipment that the police need to protect us all.

… from the BFP article Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

Attorney General Stuart, Prime Minister Thompson, Transport Minister Boyce

Three Men Who Could Have Saved Lives But Chose Not To

Prime Minister David Thompson, Attorney General Freundel Stuart and Minister of Transportation John Boyce did nothing in the past nineteen months to introduce breathalyzer laws and equipment to Barbados, or to stop the drunken slaughter on our roads every weekend that kills outright or cripples people for life and destroys faces, families and livelihoods.

They have no reasonable excuse for not doing so.

Further Reading at Barbados Free Press

November 22, 2008: Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

November 22, 2007 – Five Year Sentence For Dangerous Driver – But Still No Breathalyzer Law

October 30, 2007 – More Road Deaths Than Murders: Yet Barbados Still Does Not Have Breathalyzer Laws Or Technology

August 15, 2007 – Minister of Transport Gline Clarke Finally “Talking” About Driver Breathaliser Tests – As First Suggested By By Barbados Free Press Over A Year Ago

July 25, 2006 – Barbados Government To Ban Cell Phones While Driving

Typical Barbados Justice System Follies: Another Police File “Missing” at Director of Public Prosecutions Office

In a real Justice System all the alarm bells and sirens go off when a police file goes missing in a high-profile case.

In Barbados, its only another day of at the office.

Welcome to the Justice System of Barbados…

This is a country where a twelve year old girl is raped and it doesn’t come to court for ten years and then gets tossed because the “old boy network” looked after things.

This is a country where a popular pastor is charged with rape and it doesn’t come to court for seven years.

This is a country where a civil lawsuit against the Attorney General can’t come to trial in 17 bloody years!

This is a country where we have no laws to protect buyers of condominiums, a country where a court dispute over a condominium can take 19 years and still be unresolved!

This is a country where a seriously injured tourist has to wait eleven long years for justice.

This is a country where a foreign resident who purchased land in Barbados can’t get title or deed for 34 years! No, that is not a typo error. It is 34 bloody years and still counting!

This is a country where rape victims are pressured into taking money in exchange for not testifying when criminal charges have already been laid… and the courts go along with it!

And if the courts give a decision that the government of the day doesn’t like? The foreign investor is just as likely to see the army sent in with guns to overrule the court’s decision. They don’t usually print the story of Barbados Sea Island Cotton and Nitin Amersey in the local news!

“Rule of law?”

Ha! You mek sport my friends!

This is the reality of our Barbados courts and it has been recognized again and again but nothing changes.

Here is the latest story. Just today’s story — but citizens and foreign investors alike should be aware that if they have a dispute with one of the Barbados elites or the government, or find themselves relying upon the Barbados Justice System, this is what they are in for…

from The Nation (online story here)…

Delay in Radio Boss’ Case

THE POLICE FILE has been allegedly lost and so a year after the case against radio manager Veoma Alisha Ali first came to court, it is yet to start.

Ali’s counsel Wilfred Abrahams yesterday told the District “A” Magistrates’ Court that “apparently the file had gone to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office and had been misplaced”.

His comments came after police prosecutor Sergeant Trenton Small said he was not yet in possession of a file.

“Even if that were true,” said Magistrate Pamela Beckles in response to Abrahams’ comments, “this is a whole year that has passed and you should go back to the complainant and re-interview her.”

Ali, 29, of No. 397 A, Westwood Park, Husbands, St James, has been accused that with intent to maim, disfigure or disable Kareen Clarke, of Denton Road, Grazettes, St Michael, she did serious bodily harm to Clarke on August 27, 2008.

Ali remains on $20 000 bail.

The matter was then adjourned until Novembers 9.

Secret Withdrawal Of Bribery Charges Against Barbados Cop Stinks Of Corruption At The Highest Levels

Unholy Alliance: Sergeant Paul Vaughan (left) & Charles Leacock – Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions

Barbados News Media Remains Silent

On September 16, 2008, Barbados Police Sergeant Paul Emmanuel Vaughn (sometimes spelled Paul Vaughan) was charged with corruptly accepting $56,500 in bribes between December 1, 2004 and April 30, 2007 from Evadney Cindy Bushell in return for protecting her from prosecution for selling pirated DVDs.

We said at the time that the Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock would eventually withdraw the criminal charges against his old friend, Sergeant Vaughn, because the two corrupt public employees had previously been involved together in the Ronja Juman scandal. In short, Charles Leacock had Sergeant Vaughn and his goon squad arrest Ronja Juman in the middle of the night and subject the terrified woman to a vaginal search – over back rent she owed Charles Leacock. There was no way the DPP was going to continue the prosecution of a man who was his friend and a co-conspirator in the illegal activities and abuses that happened to Juman – and we said so.

See our article Corrupt Director Of Public Prosecutions Must Now Prosecute His Corrupt Police Friend For Accepting Bribes!!!

Well surprise, surprise! The Director of Public Prosecutions recently ordered the withdrawal of the bribery and perverting the course of justice charges against his friend, Sergeant Vaughn. No public explanation was given – and the cowardly lapdogs in the Barbados news media never asked a single question even though the whole thing stinks to high heaven.

As our friend from GBL Blog pointed out, the original charges stated that $56,500 had been paid by Evadney Bushell to Sergeant Vaughan between certain dates. The police who laid the bribery charges didn’t just pull that figure out of a hat, you know! Here is what our friend said…

“Yesterday, prosecutor, Sergeant Trenton Small informed the court that acting on the instructions of the DPP, Charles Leacock, QC, the two charges were being withdrawn by the prosecution.”

– Daily Nation, June 23, 2009, Pg 17.

This stinks to me. I wish I had the original court report so I could point how ‘dead to rights’ this guy was. The 56K figure which seemed connected to him had to come from somewhere. As far as I am aware, an influx of cash of that amount for a civil servant will raise eyebrows, as civil servants are not allowed to work outside of the civil service whilst still employed by the civil service.

There is also the evidence against the accused Evadney Bushell. Did that just disappear into thin air? What brought the charges in the first place?

The article does not say that the case was dropped for lack of evidence, the procedure was not improperly followed, so I am left to ask WHY?

The boys in blue look after their own. That’s why. From the beat cop to the DPP.

… from The Good, The Bad & The LOL article Charges Against Sergeant Discontinued

Police Commissioner Dottin… Why Do You Think The Barbados Police Enjoy So Little Public Respect?

As we said when we predicted the charges would fade into nothing without any explanation…

I love Barbados – but I hate the corrupt and incestuous cartel that seems to run everything.

Boscobel Road Toll Gang Still Operating Freely In Barbados

Dear Barbados Free Press,

Last year you talked about “road toll” incidents at Boscobel and begged the police to make arrests. The gang is still there every day at the intersection preying on tourists as if it was a regular job. Without exaggeration I tell you they are there every day. Last week some of our guests were frightened to death when they were stopped by one of the men blocking the road. When he asked for money they drove off and the man kicked the side of the car denting it and fell down pretending to be injured. Fortunately they kept on driving. Will you please draw attention to this once more?

(Name withheld)

The road is closed. I need ten dollars.

Dear BFP Reader,

Here you go… we’ll republish our earlier article NOT THAT IT WILL CAUSE THE POLICE TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING…

Before we get to the original article, here are a couple of satellite shots for the tourists so they can avoid the thugs. We’d say the maps are for the police, but they already know about this gang… NOT THAT IT WILL CAUSE THE POLICE TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING…

Click on the images to view the large size in new windows. Blue dot marks the gang’s usual intersection. They sit on the south side and take turns stopping hired cars.

–

Barbados Police Helpless In Stopping Boscobel Road Toll Gang

Hundreds Of Tourists Being Accosted For Money Every Month!

The Boscobel “Road Toll Gang” have been doing their thing for at least three years now. They stop tourist hired cars by standing in front of them. They inform the drivers that the road is closed, instruct them to drive another way and then demand money for the “assistance”.

They are big, nasty men and most of the tourists pay. It is a lucrative business for the gang.

Always seven or eight sitting at the “T” intersection and while one engages the driver in conversation another will sometimes come up behind on the passenger side, reach through an open window to grab a purse or a camera and then run like hell. Sometimes they will even open an unlocked door.

The Royal Barbados Police Force are well aware of this bunch of thieves, but have done nothing except take the reports from the poor tourists who are stupid enough to stop and roll down their windows.

I guess that Commissioner Dottin and his officers have much better things to do than to look after this group of thugs who are singlehandedly destroying the reputation of this island sometimes ten and twenty times a day.

No trouble finding them: they are at the “T” in Boscobel every day. It is their place of business, and their business is shaking down fearful tourists…

… continue reading this article here: Barbados Police Helpless In Stopping Boscobel Road Toll Gang

Barbados Police Officer Arrested – Rape Charge Against Constable Richard Allan Toppin

We're Making Progress! Barbados Reporters Allowed To Take Accused Cop's Photo Without The Reporters Being Beaten By Police.

Presumed Innocent Until Guilt Proven (Especially With Rape Where There Are So Many False Accusations Made)

We are delighted to see another police officer arrested and charged with a crime – not because we believe he is guilty, but because not so long ago there never would have been an arrest. In the not too distant past, guilty police officers were either quietly allowed to resign or quietly allowed to retain their jobs.

Perhaps some things are changing on this island. Perhaps the police senior management have come to realise that with the internet they cannot keep misbehaviour secret as they used to. Whatever the reason for the change, the change is being noticed.

Who knows, if the police continue to enforce the law against their own perhaps one day the Royal Barbados Police Force might even regain a bit of credibility with the citizens.

Further Reading

The Nation: Police Officer Charged With Rape

Royal Barbados Police Blow It Again – Abandoned Baby’s Dad Waits Months While The Police Did Nothing

Too Bad We Can’t Rely Upon Our Barbados Police

Last August 29th, a newly-born baby boy was abandoned by his mother at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The child was left unattended near an elevator. The mother left the country for her native Guyana after telling the father that the child died at birth. When the father, who is a resident of Barbados, read in the newspaper about the abandoned baby he came forward and claimed the child as his.

The Royal Barbados Police Force became involved because of the child abandonment, and they started what can now be laughably termed as “an investigation”.

The baby’s father provided a DNA sample to the Royal Barbados Police Force a few days later on September 8, 2008 and then waited for the results so he could claim his son.

And he waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

He waited a total of four months…

Until he realised that the DO NOTHING OFFICERS of the Royal Barbados Police Force were lying to him. They hadn’t done a damn thing. They hadn’t yet submitted the samples for testing.

So the father had to arrange for DNA testing himself at an independent laboratory – which he would have been happy to do in the first place except that the DO-NOTHING POLICE told him that they “had to handle the tests officially.”

According to our source, once the father realised that he had to take action himself the paternity results from the independent laboratory took all of eight days. That’s all.

When will the Royal Barbados Police Force become a Professional Law Enforcement Organisation?

That’s easy. The RBPF will be come a professional organisation when two things happen: 1/ Officers in all ranks are paid a living wage, and 2/ The current senior leadership is replaced with REAL LEADERS.

From the Nation…

DNA test proves baby’s dad

by BARRY ALLEYNE

BABY JOHN DOE should soon have a new name, and a new home too.

That is because paternal instinct has finally paid off for a young Guyanese father living in Barbados.

Five months of playing a waiting game finally came to fruition last week, when he learnt that a newborn baby boy left abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) last August was positively his son.

The man had delivered a saliva sample to Royal Barbados Police Force officials on September 8 to determine if he was in fact the father. But the prospective father’s attorney Samuel Legay decided it would be more expedient to have an independent laboratory in Barbados conduct the DNA tests to prove the child’s paternity. Results of that independent test came back last week, proving the Guyanese is father of the child, who is now almost six months old, and in the care of the Child Care Board, having initially spent more than two weeks under observation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being discovered….

… continue reading this disgusting story of police incompetence at the Nation (link here)

Barbados Police Out Of Control – Journalists Arrested For Reporting On Crooked Cops – Call For Commissioner’s Resignation

Barbados Police Thugs Again Assault Working Journalists

Freedom Of The Press In Deep Trouble In Barbados

Yet again more working journalists have been man-handled and arrested by Barbados police thugs. The crime this time was reporting on a police officer who is charged with dealing drugs. (Nation News stories here, here and here)

Commissioner Dottin has once again promised to have some sort of investigation or inquiry into the incident – the same as he always promises whenever the police shoot an unarmed citizen in the back of the head or beat up working reporters. Of course, there never is any investigation or explanation by Dottin or the Royal Barbados Police Force because the police are above the law in Barbados. They answer to no one, not even to the politicians and certainly not to concerned citizens or the victims of police abuse. Dottin always says he will “Look into it” whenever an unarmed civilian is shot or a reporter is roughed up – but then nothing happens and the years go by.

There is no civilian oversight of police officers in Barbados. There is no working complaints board and no independent agency to investigate police wrongdoing. If citizens want to charge a police officer with an offense, that presents another whole layer of impossible. Our Director of Public Prosecutions is part of the problem as he hires corrupt police officers to collect personal debts owed to him.

Why Should We Believe Commissioner Dottin? He Has Lied To Us Many Times!

Last year there were two major incidents where police roughed up reporters and destroyed their notes, photos and videos. (BFP stories here and here)

Dottin said he’d “look into it.”

Sure. Almost 19 months have gone by and Dottin is still “looking into it” just like he’s looking into the case of 17 year old Kim Joseph – a woman who was “accidentally” shot in the head by police nine years ago. Just like he’s looking into the case of Stephan Griffith – an unarmed man who was shot in the back of the head by police in January 2007 while riding his bicycle. Just like he’s looking into the case of Glenroy Brathwaite who was most likely beaten to death by officers while in police custody in December 2006.

Are we detecting a pattern here?

We know that Barbados police are paid a fraction of what is paid to professional police officers in many other Caribbean nations. We know that they are poorly trained because of lack of funding, and understrength because of a shortage of qualified recruits. The last government’s solution to the problem was not to pay the police a living wage, but to lower the hiring standards!

All that is true, but in the end the police must be professionals and adhere to the rule of law whether they believe they are being paid enough or not.

And that makes it is a top-down leadership problem with the responsibility falling upon Commissioner Dottin – who has failed miserably to make the police into a professional law enforcement organisation where officers adhere to the rule of law and believe themselves to be guardians of a sacred trust to protect society.

Commissioner Dottin has shown time and time again that he is incapable of controlling his officers, let alone making the Royal Barbados Police Force into a professional law enforcement organisation that we can all be proud of.

Dottin should resign or be sacked.

May 2007 Police Rough Up & Arrest Barbados Reporters - Charges Later Disappear

August 3, 2007: Barbados Police Seeking Help To Replace Important Evidence They Intentionally Destroyed – Superintendent “Poop-For-Brains” Broomes Was “In Way Over His Head” At Bus Accident Scene

July 31, 2007: Barbados Reporters Again Assaulted By Police Thugs – But Is The Nation News Reaping What Is Sowed?

June 8, 2007: Barbados Journalists Were Roughed Up OUTSIDE The Hospital!

May 27, 2007: Barbados Reporters Visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital – Arrive In Zimbabwe Courtesy Of Royal Barbados Police Force

Was Corrupt Barbados Police Sargeant Paul Vaughan Extorting Bribes From Codrington Family’s DVD Store?

Unholy Alliance: Sergeant Paul Vaughan (left) & Charles Leacock - Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions

Way back in August of 2007, Barbados lost an entire family as their apartment collapsed into a giant cave. Once a response got moving (which took some five hours) rescuers tried their best, but five bodies were eventually pulled from the hole. Dead were Cassandra Codrington 27 years old, Donavera 30 years old (husband), Shaquonda 7 years old, Shaquila 3 years old and Yashero 1 years old. One family member survived: Donica 3 months old was staying with relatives at the time of the collapse.

There was much discussion on the blogs about issues that the lapdog Barbados news media would never address. For instance, one of our articles revealed that months after the deaths, the government was not investigating the extent of the caves at Arch Cot where the Codrington family died! (See BFP’s Retired Barbados Chief Geologist Accidentally Reveals: No Cave Studies Being Done At Arch Cot Collapse!)

After reading that article, a reader called OMG commented and asked some very pointed questions – one of which was about a corrupt Barbados police sergeant who had been receiving “side cash” from the Codrington family’s DVD store. Here is the comment…

OMG
November 13, 2007 at 12:01 am
Cant believe I miss this.

Thanks BFP. This will be passed on to the appropriate solicitor.

Can anyone out there provide answers to the following questions?

1. Which government minister was building a Day Care centre at the back of the collapsed apartment?

2. Who allowed construction to begin again after it was stopped for one week prior to the Cave In.

3.Who knows the name of the owner of the apartment block.

4. Will the powers that be write off the date (August 28th) on the death certificates as an error?

5. When will the inquest be held?

6. Who will a famous Sgt. get his side cash from now that the Codringtons have closed the DVD store.

7. What is the media really doing with the telethon money? Trust me, they aint give a boy a cent.

Flash Forward To September 2008: Police Sergeant Paul Vaughan Charged With Corruption Over DVD Store Bribes!

Last September, Royal Barbados Police Force Sergeant Paul Vaughan was charged with taking $56,500 in bribes over a two and a half year period from a DVD store owner who was selling counterfeit movies. At the time that Sergeant Vaughan was taking the DVD store bribes, he was a member of the Barbados Police Copyright Infringement Unit.

Nice touch, don’t you think?

We reported the charges in our story Corrupt Director Of Public Prosecutions Must Now Prosecute His Corrupt Police Friend For Accepting Bribes!!!

THEN YESTERDAY… I stumbled upon the original comment by OMG made in November of 2007 where it is said that a corrupt Police Sergeant took “side cash” from the Codrington family’s DVD store!

So we wonder: was Paul Vaughan the corrupt police officer spoken about by OMG, or is there more than one police officer taking bribes to protect DVD shop owners who sell counterfeit DVDs?

Tell the world what you know folks… it is all anonymous here at BFP, and if you want to add another layer of protection for your self you can always post a comment here through www.anonymouse.org.

Let’s out any other corrupt police officers here and now!

Barbados Government Against Witness Intimidation – Unless Done By Powerful Government Insiders

Chief Justice, Former Barbados High Commissioner And Others Threatened Witnesses – But Government and Police Did Nothing

University of the West Indies professor John Knox was told by former Barbados High Commissioner Peter Simmons that if he persisted in being a witness in a lawsuit he would lose his job teaching. Knox continued as a witness and was indeed fired from his position at the University of the West Indies.

If that isn’t threatening a witness and a perversion of justice, I don’t know what is.

Prior to that threat, during a meeting between Chief Justice David Simmons, his brother Peter Simmons and environmental consultant Stuart Heaslet, Chief Justice Simmons threatened that if a land fraud case against him in a Canadian court was not dropped, he would ruin the chances for a Graeme Hall National Park.

Oh, bye the way: Stuart Heaslet is a witness in that Canadian trial.

Then of course we have the ongoing death threats against another few witnesses in the Kingland land fraud trial which the Royal Barbados Police Force have refused to investigate – primarily because the death threats were made from a computer used by Member of Parliament Dr. Duguid.

Attorney General Stuart Gives A Speech To The Corrupt Director Of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock

Why Is All This Talk Of Threatening Witnesses Relevant Today?

Glad you asked. The Attorney General of Barbados, Freundel Stuart, made a big speech the other day about how Barbados is very concerned about witnesses being threatened by “thugs”. Mr. Stuart said he hadn’t heard of any cases in Barbados, but the authorities are watching for it.

Really, Mr. Stuart? You haven’t heard of any such cases? Really?

Perhaps you should contact your Commissioner of Police and ask him why he and his officers did nothing when death threats were made against witnesses in the Kingsland case. Or perhaps AG Stuart should read the court documents that show that John Knox was fired for being a witness and that the Chief Justice threatened to use his political connections to kill the Graeme Hall National Park unless charges against him are dropped.

Then again, when Attorney General Stuart made his speech, one of the people at the head table was Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock – the same Charles Leacock who had corrupt police officers collect some back rent for him from a tenant named Ronja Juman.

Although it seems difficult to imagine that this happened in Barbados, officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force used a forged search warrant to raid Ronja Juman’s home in the middle of the night, dragged her off to the police station and performed a vaginal search on Ms. Juman. All over back rent.

They didn’t charge her right away. The idea was to terrorise Juman and her family to get that back rent payment. For the same reason, the corrupt police officers visited her son’s school just to sent Ms. Juman a little message.

Those were Barbados Police thugs working “on the side” to collect back rent for the landlord: Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock.

Thugs.

Attorney General Stuart would be well advised to remove the log from his own eye before he worries too much about the rest of the island.

Further Reading

December 3, 2008: Barbados Advocate – New Laws Coming

December 3, 2008: Nation – Government To Look At Witness Safety

June 22, 2008: COVER-UP: Royal Barbados Police Force Ignores Violent Threats To Businessman (Duguid Reference Included)

June 14, 2008: Canadian Judge On Peter Simmons’ Testimony: “This Court Does Not Accept These Self-Serving Explanations” About Threats Of Violence!

May 25, 2008: Barbados Police Continue To Cover-Up Threats Against Adrian Loveridge, Court Witnesses, Bloggers

May 14, 2008: Justice In Barbados – Shut Up Or Else! Court Witness Fired From University Of West Indies Professorship. Brother Of Chief Justice Simmons Delivered The Threat

May 13, 2008: Barbados Chief Justice Threatened Political Action Against National Park If Personal Lawsuit Against Him Was Not Dropped – Secret Meeting Not So Secret Anymore!

December 30, 2007: Barbados Police In Political Cover Up – Fail To Investigate Violent Threats Against Witnesses In Chief Justice’s Land Fraud Trial

November 5, 2007: We Publish All The Documents: Barbados Director Of Public Prosecutions, Police Sgt Paul Vaughan And The Blank Search Warrant Scandal (Ronja Juman reference included)

Barbados Bus Crash Injures 59 – Police Cannot Determine If Drivers Had Been Drinking

Barbados Police Lack Breathaliser Equipment & Laws To Properly Investigate Road Accidents

Thompson DLP Government Continues BLP Policy Of Doing Nothing To Stop Drunk Driving

A major crash between two buses and an auto yesterday left dozens injured, and just like the other major bus and auto crashes during the past three years our Barbados police do not have the breathalizer equipment or laws that would show if any of the drivers had been drinking.

We lose more people to drunk driving than we do to murder, but after eleven months in office, the Thompson DLP Government has done nothing to address the serious problem that our country lacks enforceable, modern drunk-driving laws.

In practically every civilized jurisdiction in the world when there has been an accident and the police suspect the driver might have had even one beer, the driver has to blow into a breathalizer machine to prove how much alcohol is in his or her body. We know that some people can drink lots and not “look” like they are drunk, but they shouldn’t be driving. The breathalizer provides scientific evidence so there is no doubt.

Barbados Free Press has been calling for breathaliser laws and equipment for the police for almost three years now. In that time we have seen some horrible accidents and even mass fatal accidents – but our law enforcement officers have no way of testing to see how much those drivers had been drinking. Short of falling down drunk, there is no law against drinking and driving in Barbados.

The first job of government is to protect the citizens, and successive BLP and DLP governments have failed to protect the citizens when it comes to people who drink and drive.

Six dead at the Joes River tour bus crash, four more dead in the Emancipation Day crash and others. But in these and other serious crashes since, aside from an autopsy, Barbados Police have no way of proving how much an involved driver has been drinking.

That is because our government has been negligent in providing the legal structure and the equipment that the police need to protect us all.

Back in July of this year, BFP said…

Prime Minister Thompson… time to act, Sir. If your government can’t implement breathalizer laws during the first year of your term, that will pretty well say everything about your priorities and leadership.

Attorney General Stuart, Prime Minister Thompson, Transport Minister Boyce

Three Men Who Could Have Saved Lives In Barbados But Chose Not To

Prime Minister David Thompson, Attorney General Freundel Stuart and Minister of Transportation John Boyce did nothing in the past year to introduce breathalyzer laws and equipment to Barbados, or to stop the drunken slaughter on our roads every weekend that kills outright or cripples people for life and destroys faces, families and livelihoods.

They have no reasonable excuse for not doing so.

During the past year, they could have obtained already-crafted legislation from any number of sources, and purchased equipment and trained police officers as the legislation was being finalised. Six months, tops.

Civilized jurisdictions all over the world have amassed tens thousands of legal cases, trials, reports, and committees to develop modern laws, training and operational standards for the police and the courts. The breathaliser technology itself is now computerised, mass produced, more accurate and cheaper than it has ever been. Roadside screening units for uniform patrol officers can be had for a few hundred dollars. The laws in British common law countries are decades old… been through the Supreme Courts and back again.

All that is readily available if our government gave a damn.

Like the previous BLP Government, the Thompson DLP Government seems to have trouble actually making things happen. Lots of cheap talk, but no real achievements to make life better and safer for Bajans.

Further Reading

Nation Newspaper – 59 Injured In Bus Accident

CBC – Scores Injured In Bus Accident

BFP…

November 22, 2007 – Five Year Sentence For Dangerous Driver – But Still No Breathalyzer Law

October 30, 2007 – More Road Deaths Than Murders: Yet Barbados Still Does Not Have Breathalyzer Laws Or Technology

August 15, 2007 – Minister of Transport Gline Clarke Finally “Talking” About Driver Breathaliser Tests – As First Suggested By By Barbados Free Press Over A Year Ago

July 25, 2006 – Barbados Government To Ban Cell Phones While Driving