Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie framed the overarching issue well as he spoke to the question concerning crime and its impact on Bahamian society.
The nationﾒs leader said some words that resonate even now: “We are all in this war on crime together and we have to present a united front against all the forces of criminality in our midst. Together, we can beat this beast and restore sanity and peace.”
That united front presumes ﾖobviously- that crimeﾒs tentacles must be tackled wherever and whenever they emerge, with fear or favor for absolutely no one. And here, the emphasis is on ABSOLUTELY NO ONE.
No one -after all- is above the law.
In this regard and on this day, the public needs, wants and demands an explanation from the Commissioner of Police as to why and how it came to be that some police officers were on the streets yesterday in full flight dereliction of their duty to protect, defend and uphold the rule of law in this Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
When we heard the news, our response was visceral. We were appalled ﾖsimply appalled- totally flabbergasted and utterly distressed when we heard some of the news about the riotous conduct of certain police officers as they made their undisciplined presence felt on Bank Lane.
As we understand the matter that had driven some of them onto the borderline of incipient rebellion, it now seems as if their actions were precipitated by what they had been led to believe was a decision made by the Attorney General, the Hon. Allyson Maynard-Gibson.
That decision ﾖpresumably- was to the effect that a police officer was to be charged for some offence or the other in that matter that left Deron ﾑSharkyﾒ Bethel dead.
While it is absolutely clear that the Attorney General does have a constitutionally mandated role to play in matters such as these, we cannot fathom how any of what she has to do under the law could possibly warrant police protest in the heart of the city.
The police who did what they did were simply out of order. They should not have been where they were when they were observed doing what no officers under command should ever do.
Their Commander, the Commissioner of Police Mr. Paul Farquharson owes the public an explanation as to what his men were doing on Bank Lane.
He also needs to tell the public how it came to be that certain police officers were where they were and doing what they were doing as they allegedly protested what they anticipated to be a decision that was supposedly set to be made by the Attorney General of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
In the alternate, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, the Hon. Cynthia Pratt must demand an explanation from the Commissioner of Police.
And as this is a matter that goes to the very heart of statecraft in a democracy where the rule of law is said to hold sway, we expect that the Commissioner will answer sooner rather than later.
The attentive public wants to see something done now.
There is no way under the sun for anyone to believe that this is a matter that can or should be swept under the rug with one platitude or the other about so-called ﾑbad applesﾒ.
And so like other Bahamians who care about and love this nation, we are calling upon those in authority to come clean on this one. There is no time that is as good as now to begin doing the right thing.
There is no time quite as good as this time for police officers themselves to show that they do not condone law breaking of any kind by any one. Todayﾒs police officer needs to be fully seized of the idea and ideal that says that the police officer is but a citizen in uniform.
It necessarily follows that if a police officer is charged with having committed an offence, he is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
That is the law of the land.
Those who are called upon to defend the law are also obliged to obey the law. It is really as simple as that. Any one who tries some other formula is criminally mistaken. We repeat: no one in this Commonwealth of The Bahamas is above the law. This includes the police and other citizens in uniform.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
