BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Director Public Prosecutions (DPP), Adlai Smith, has taken note of the challenges posed by the inadequate work of the police in their evidence-gathering, and he is working to have them trained.
The issue has long been raised in the courtroom over the lack of proper evidence gathering, as judges have been chastising police prosecutors on their presentations.
Against that backdrop, Smith told SKNVibes News that he has plans to remedy the situation through training.
"I have a particular format that I have been working on with respect to how I want police files for vetting and for advice and so on to be presented to the DPP Offices.”
Smith disclosed that the issue with evidence-gathering is that of pocketbook and notes.
“I am disappointed and disheartened when I hear police officers in answers to questions by the court or by the prosecutors, saying, 'That might have been one, that would have been done, that may have been done.’ No! You are supposed to know whether it was done or not.”
Oftentimes, it has been reported that many officers depend heavily on their memory for evidence-keeping when attending court, which creates a problem because they often forget when in court.
To this end, the DPP explained that during his planned period of training, he would allude to officers utilizing best practices to ensure there are records always accessible when presenting in court, including having them stored electronically.
"I want to advocate for a culture whereby every material thing which you have done in relation to an investigation, it must be written down,” Smith told SKNVibes News.
“But I want to go a step further, I have come up with a creative technique whereby…you create a notebook via your email. So you come to court and you don’t remember, you can just type in such and such a date on a particular date and the search line and you find it,” added Smith.
Going a bit further, the DPP also addressed the challenges faced by victims of officers releasing full details to the alleged perpetrators of crimes.
Smith said: “I am aware of that and it is a matter of concern that will be tackled by police officers. If there is evidence that there is a charge of misconduct in public office…and you are releasing confidential information which is expected to be kept confidential, you could be subject to a penalty under that particular legislation.”
