By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A POLICE officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into an alarming, widely circulated voice note purporting police brutality and alleged assault of a man while in custody.

In the four-minute-long recording, an officer, who identifies himself as an assistant police superintendent, can be heard shouting and beating a man.

It is not clear what led to the confrontation. However, the incident took place during a conversation between another male officer and a man in custody, who is questioning the charges being brought against him.

About one minute into the recording, the officer at the centre of the audio’s controversy starts cursing and hitting the man in custody.

“My name is…assistant superintendent of police. You hear me? Put your hands down. Put your hands down. Look at me,” the officer in question said as a loud slap is heard.

“There you go. That’s what he needs,” another officer added, while laughing.

“Don’t mix me up, okay? Don’t mix me up with nobody else. You see these boys here. Don’t mix me up,” the ASP says amid what sounds like slaps. “You hear me? I talking to you. Did you hear me?”

To which the man in custody replied: “Yes, sir.”

“Sit your a-- down. Don’t ever shout at me,” the ASP continued.

Later in the audio, one officer can be heard bragging about beating drug dealers.

Police Commissioner Paul Rolle confirmed to reporters that the officer directly involved in the incident had been suspended. However, it is not clear what action has been taken against the officers who encouraged the move.

“Someone sent (the audio) to me yesterday,” the police chief said. “But I have taken a course of action. The officer involved, the complaint unit is conducting their investigations into that matter and the officer has been placed on administrative leave and that will go through the due process and I want to say that I don’t support that type of behaviour by no police officer on the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

“I think it is fair to say that I have been doing a whole lot to improve the image of this organisation and I will continue to do that. Each officer will be judged according to their own conduct and that matter is, as I said, under investigation.”

Similar incidents showing questionable police conduct have made the rounds on social media in the past, with residents long lamenting the harsh intimidating tactics sometimes used by officers.

In February, Commissioner Rolle admitted that he had to deal with “a few” officers who acted inappropriately when citing businesses found in breach of the COVID-19 Emergency Orders.

Yesterday, the police chief said he continues to remind police on how they ought to behave when carrying out their duties and interacting with the general public.

Yesterday, the victim’s attorney Craig Butler told a local talk show host that his client, who also happens to be his nephew, was just one of three men allegedly brutalised by police while in custody.

He said the trio were arrested together following a recent altercation that happened on Arawak Cay recently. Mr Butler is representing the three men.

“These are three young men - 26, 23 and 19 - (who) were leaving the Arawak Cay area and they were minding their own business and one of the other men was attacked by two young men out of a car, so in trying to get away from that fracas and this is when the police emerged,” he said while appearing as a guest on The Hit Back with Nahaja Black.

“They came in not fully understanding what was going on and interjected themselves and in that way, the other two boys and my nephew were arrested, taken into the police station and (allegedly) brutalised.”

Speaking on his nephew’s injuries, Mr Butler said: “I saw him Monday afternoon (March 1) before he went to a private doctor. I observed the injuries for myself. The footprint was still on my nephew’s shirt. The next thing I advised my clients to do was to take all of the clothes, the same that are not being washed and we put it in bags and sealed it as evidence.”

Speaking to reporters on the issue yesterday, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said it is under investigation.

He also strongly condemned the action and insisted the police force will not tolerate such acts.

“Yes, the police is aware,” he said before going into a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “During my conversations with the commissioner today, that matter is in hand and it will be addressed as soon as possible to determine exactly what it all means and what’s going on there.

“…I get it frequently from members of the public, not only involving police officers but anything relating to social issues and crime and so I’m very aware of it. I listened to it and we want to get to the bottom of this … and I’m very confident in my discussions and conversations with him this morning that he would do the right thing to ensure he gets the answers he needs.”

Asked yesterday if he was concerned that such incidents undermine the reputation of police, Mr Dames replied: “This is the era that we’re living in. I mean as things happen, they are being disseminated. This is the world that we’re living in today and so we talk about body cams and dash cams when we have cellphones which is just as good and just about everyone walking has a cellphone in his or her hands.

“You can record video or voice recording and so those of us in authority should act accordingly and I think it’s a good thing and not saying that this is the first time we would’ve had an incident such as this – no, this is the world that we’re living in.”

He added: “Everything is under the microscope and so it’s incumbent upon public officers to conduct themselves accordingly as they are hired by the people… for the most part, a vast majority of officers and those in law enforcement are good, decent people who would’ve taken an oath and are standing by the oath which they took and they take their jobs very seriously. There are times when officers go astray and when they go astray, then they ought to be dealt with.”