By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

AN independent internal review board has been initiated to oversee all complaints against police officers, Deputy Police Commissioner Emrick Seymour announced yesterday, as he insisted the police are capable of policing themselves.

Deputy Commissioner Seymour said this board will have the authority to select any complaint against police for further review to ensure due process is followed.

In 2017, there were 197 complaints made against Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers by members of the public.

While this represents a five percent decline from 2016’s 208 complaints, the deputy commissioner said discipline needs to be maintained in the organisation.

The announcement came amid press inquiries based on allegations that two RBPF officers were caught up in a sexual assault investigation.

Police Commissioner Anthony Ferguson confirmed there is an investigation ongoing, but said it was in its early stages. He said police would make their investigation more public once it was happy with its progress.

“The office of the deputy commissioner of police has the remit and of course the overall responsibility for discipline within the Royal Bahamas Police Force,” Deputy Commissioner Seymour said.

“As the maintenance of discipline in our organisation is critical in our overall mandate, it is important that adherence to the code of discipline is observed by all of our officers.

“The question has often been asked, can the police police themselves? I would wish to answer that with an emphatic yes, we can, as this process has been demonstrated over the years. I can ensure the credibility and integrity of the process.

“To ensure that this is maintained, an internal review board, which is an independent body, has been initiated and charged with responsibility with oversight of all police investigations. It simply means that notwithstanding the complaints made to the Police Complaints Unit, the process of the investigation of those complaints is carried out by the officers themselves. However, the review board has the overall responsibility and has the authority also to call anyone of those complaints in to ensure that the due process was followed in the investigative process.”

Of the 197 complaints, Mr Seymour said 112 were investigated and completed. The remaining 85 matters are still open and under investigation, he said.

He said the concluded matters were either recommended to the court of inquiry or withdrawn because of unsubstantiated or insufficient evidence.

Officials did not say how many officers, if any, were let go from the force or punished as a result of these complaints.