By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the near two-year absence of inquests into police-involved killings is unacceptable, a sentiment Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle echoed during a press conference yesterday.

Commissioner Rolle revealed there have been 13 police involved killings this year. That is the highest in recent memory. Commissioner Rolle could not recall another year when more killings were recorded.

The Bahamas has one of the highest per capita rates of police involved killings in the world, with 11 recorded in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Initially, COVID-19 caused delays in inquests last year. Officials spent months waiting for plexiglass barriers to be erected throughout courtrooms to ensure compliance with health and physical distancing protocols. Later, former Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, causing further delays as officials waited to replace her. Magistrate Kara Turnquest-Deveaux was named acting coroner in September.

 Commissioner Rolle said yesterday he has appointed an internal committee in the Royal Bahamas Police Force to look into police killings as a result of the delay in court inquests.

 “Any killing,” Mr Davis said yesterday, “whether by police or otherwise is troubling and requires the proper investigation to determine the circumstances under which that killing may have occurred and allowing the chips to fall where they may. It is not acceptable that you have killings and the timeline and the investigations follow to be as long as it is because it impacts memory, memory fades, details are lost and it does not help in solving the issues.

 “So, yes, we are concerned and we are going to be talking with the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General to see how we can address these issues because it does go to the root of confidence in the force and one of the best tools for effective policing is the confidence of the general public.”

 Commissioner Rolle said there were seven police involved shootings in December, two of which have been fatal. He said there have been 21 such shootings for the year.

 Yesterday, he said the public should encourage authorities to make sure inquests take place, adding he believes two, not just one coroner responsible for police cases, is necessary.

 “We have not had a coroner’s inquest for well over a year or thereabouts,” he said.

 “What I have done realising this because when these incidents happen, just like murders or any killing, the family has an interest in knowing what happened. What I have done is to appoint my own committee within the Royal Bahamas Police Force which is comprised of Deputy Commissioner Fernander, Assistant Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux, Assistant Commissioner Zhivargo Dames and Father Steven Davies and I have mandated them to look at every one of those police involved killings.

 “We have five files right now that I had some concerns with and we begin with those based on information that I’ve been getting from members of the public. I’ve asked them to review those files and once they are completed then I will make my recommendation to the coroner.

 “If you are familiar with the Coroner’s Act it gives the coroner certain powers whether they are either satisfied that the action was justified or not justified and then it goes on to the Attorney General. The pressure is on me, I feel it and I am trying to do this because I want the Bahamian people to know that I’m not gonna be covering nothing. Whatever the information is we are going to make it available to the members of the public.”

 Asked if 13 killings is the most ever in a single year, Commissioner Rolle said: “I think at one point it might’ve been like 12…I don’t just want to concentrate on the fact that it was police killings, because you got 13 killings, 13 attempts to kill police. These are 13 idiots who are crazy enough to pull (a) gun on my officers and the officers are not going to sit by and let someone shoot them. And that’s why I continue to tell people, you know your family has illegal guns, tell them turn those guns in.”