Accuses writer of sensationalism
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMMISSIONER of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF), Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn has categorically stated that an article headlined ‘Cleverly Hill resident accuses police of brutality’ is untrue and that the writer “chose sensationalism instead of truth”.
A police press release dated 2012/10/30 states: “Commissioner CG Walwyn wishes to advise the public that the story published in the SKNVibes about police entering a home in Sandy Point without a warrant is not true. This is another attempt at disparaging the positive contributions of the police in their efforts to reduce crime and make the Federation safer for all residents and visitors alike.
“The police cannot comment on active investigations but the public needs to know that there was a warrant and the warrant was shown to the residents. The residents constantly obstructed the police and had to be secured. The public needs to understand that they may be arrested for obstruction once they are presented with a warrant. The warrant was shown but the obstruction continued and one of the residents was secured. The female should have also been secured. Why she was not is being investigated.”
Quoting the Commissioner, the release also states: “We have spoken to SKNVIBES before and have asked them to stop vilifying countries because of the acts of their citizens but they have chosen to continue this reprehensible practice of naming countries in their stories.”
It further states that according to the Commissioner, there were no Grenadian Officers participating in the operation. “It is a shame that this country would be disparaged because of the irresponsibility of the writer who chose sensationalism instead of truth”.
On the morning of Friday, October 26, 2012, Cleo Gumbs of Cleverly Hill, Sandy Point came to this media house and claimed that she was physically abused by an officer based at the Sandy Point Police Station.
She claimed that the incident occurred at about 12:31 a.m. on Friday (Oct. 26) and the officers had visited her home to conduct a search for foodstuff and appliances, but they did not produce a warrant. Instead, she noted, “One of the officers (name provided), who is from Grenada, took out a little piece of white paper, and may have taken us for fools, saying that it was a warrant. I then told him that I was not the owner of the house and I have to go and inform my parents who were asleep at the time.”
At no time did this writer say the officer was a Grenadian; that statement was made by Gumbs who also provided his name, but it was not published.
This writer advised Gumbs to lodge a complaint at the Basseterre Police Station. And in an effort to confirm that she did as advised and also to verify her allegations, this writer called the Head of the Complaint Department, Sergeant Jacobs, who stated that all questions should be directed to the Press and Public Information Officer (PIO), Inspector Lyndon David.
This, too, was done and Inspector David said he was unaware of the alleged incident, but offered advice on how and where complaints against members of the force should be made.
It is rather unfortunate to know that the Commissioner, whose training in Law Enforcement has its genesis in the most powerful country in the world and who is also the holder of a Ph.D, has yet again signalled his unawareness of the role of the media.
While the police are charged with service and protection, the role of the media is to inform, teach, educate and entertain. Further, the media are known as the ‘people’s watchdog’ and any occurrence that may inversely or adversely affect a society, the people have a right to know through the media.
According to Melvin Mencher, if public consent, freely given, is essential to the proper functioning of a democracy, then for the consent to be meaningful the public must be adequately informed by a press free of government or any other control.
As said by the late American President Thomas Jefferson, “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
My university training has taught me that matters that require the balancing of the press’ self-interest or the interest of a special group against the general interest, the latter should prevail.
One social scientist noted that defining the public or general interest is not easy, “for, as some maintain, there is no public interest but a melange of special interests. But there are concerns shared by most people, and access to information is one of the basic needs of a democratic society”.
The abovementioned facts therefore beg the following questions: “Why is there a gag order on the dissemination of information, even by Senior Officers, in the RSCNPF? Why the post mortem results of a number of individuals who died under suspicious circumstances (including Fire Officer Patrick 'Flash' Lawrence) were not revealed to the press?"
The gag order holds true, for when asked by a reporter of this media house for certain information, the most Senior Officer based on Nevis said that he could not provide any information on certain crimes committed on that island, and that all questions should be directed to the PIO.
There were numerous occasions when this media house had contacted the PIO for information and was told that he was not in receipt of the facts and was awaiting on them, either from the Criminal Investigation Department or one of the various police stations in the Federation.
The most recent was the result of an early morning joint operation launched in Dieppe Bay, where four individuals were charged for possession of illegal drugs.
What the media normally get from the police, is a press release with one sentence for each individual who was charged with various offences, but no additional information that led to the charges.
Additionally, photographs of individuals who were charged with misdemeanours are normally sent to media houses for publication, and most, if not all, of those who commit felonies are withheld.
Some of these individuals were charged with traffic offences. However, there are those who had faced murder charges and their photographs were sent to the media for publication, but at the Preliminary Inquiry, where the media are not allowed, the cases go no further but the police do not enlighten us about the findings.
This situation was put to the PIO, who stated that once someone is charged and taken before the court, their responsibility ends there and they no longer have to inform the media of the outcome. But, on the other hand, press releases are still being sent by the police stating who were jailed and who were fined.
This therefore leads one to conclude that all serious matters for which the police had charged individuals and they were thrown out in court for lack of evidence, the public should be kept in the dark.
Additionally, it is the writer’s view that the Commissioner is only interested in seeing articles that make the force seem to be efficient and effective in the execution of its mandate. But no one or nothing is perfect. Perfection is of God.
The media and the police should not be adversaries. These are two essential institutions that often keep lawbreakers in check.
Therefore, if the Commissioner is of the view that this writer thrives on sensationalism instead of the truth, then he should let the public know what the truth is in order for those in some quarters to eradicate the thought of protectionism in the RSCNPF.
