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Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Meredith Charles |
Charlestown Nevis (February 14, 2005) -- Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Meredith Charles, has advised officers of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police to take pride in their work, in light of recent dismissals of criminal cases by courts when defendants, on advice by their counsel, would have disowned statements they gave to the police.
I want to assure all investigators and police officers that you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when a case is dismissed at court, provided you have done your job of thorough investigation, preferring the appropriate charges, giving professional evidence and withstanding the most rigorous cross examination from the defence, stated Mr Charles.
Speaking on Friday night during the Second Annual Police Award Ceremony for the Best Constable of the Year in the Nevis Division of the Police Force, at Old Manor Hotel in Gingerland, the Deputy Commissioner said that their job was not getting easier.
According to him, it was becoming more complex, challenging and technical, where occasionally the police have an arduous task of convincing a court that the confession statement procured from an accused was voluntarily given, without any prompting, promises, or use of force.
It is expected, however, that a person charged with a grave crime will later change his mind with the assistance of his counsel and advance arguments before a court that he never made such statement, even though he signed and dated the document as being true and correct, he observed.
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| Premier of Nevis, Hon Vance Amory |
He further stated: But never for one moment we would have thought that the day would come when witnesses of crime would say to the judge and jury, we do not recall saying this or saying that to the police, or that when asked to read the statement for themselves they would say they cannot read. Consequently such cases are dismissed and the police becomes the whipping boy, when the whole affair is simply a whitewash.
The Deputy Commissioner told the gathering, where Constable James Stephens of the Traffic Department was named Constable of the Year, that he was heartened to learn that since the Minister of National Security, the Hon Mr Dwyer Astaphan, embarked on a programme to eradicate armed and gang violence, relatively low incidences of crime were reported to the police.
Premier of Nevis, the Hon Mr Vance Amory, who also addressed the meeting, supported Deputy Commissioner Meredith Charles, saying that it is not a good sign, when persons who are apprehended and charged with criminal activity respond over time at the behest their counsel.
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Minister of State, Hon Nigel Carty |
It may appear that it is a good strategy to exercise the right of defence and having someone who has committed a crime exonerated, commented the Premier. But then what we do, we release a criminal again on the society and the cycle continues.
Minister of State in Prime Minister Ministry, the Hon Mr Nigel Carty, who conveyed best wishes and congratulations from the Prime Minister, the Hon Dr. Denzil Douglas, said that the awards presented at the ceremony are important aspects of promoting excellence within the police force.
They should serve as a source of encouragement to other members of the force to perform their duties to the best of their abilities at all the times, driven by a high sense of commitment for law and order and to the well being of communities in which they live and serve, said Mr Carty.
In delivering the feature address, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Justice, Immigration and Labour, Mrs Astona Browne, commended members of the Police Force for having contributed significantly to Governments efforts of sustaining the requisite environment for development, despite limited resources.
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PS Ministry of National Security, Mrs Astona Browne |
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A cross section of the invited guests at the Police Award Ceremony |
She said that the Government has ensured that members of the force get the best training, saying, Gone are the days when the opportunities for training were opened to a selected few. Gone are the days when opportunities to pursue tertiary level training was not extended to the officers of the Police Force.
Mrs Browne pointed out that there were some among them who had excelled in regional and local examinations and training exercises. She promised that plans were afoot to recognise their accomplishment and hard work, noting: We have adjusted our policy to enable access to training in areas relevant to your scope of operation.
