Friday, January 12, 2024
'We don't haphazardly determine to commit our citizens anywhere'
MINISTER of National Security Wayne Munroe also spoke about the possibility of The Bahamas sending troops to Haiti, saying “We don't haphazardly determine to commit our citizens anywhere.”
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Mr Munroe said: “The first thing is you have to get what they would be going there to do.
“We don't haphazardly determine to commit our citizens anywhere. Before, we committed police officers to Turks and Caicos, because this was in our security interest.
“The Commissioner of Police had to be satisfied that all the relevant agreements were in place, that there was a definition of the mission his men would be sent on. The same would have to happen before any deployment to Haiti.
“As so we have to define the things that will define what our personnel will do. It's to train, maybe, right here, because the Haitian national police, their coast guard, need training. Some of our assistance may take place right here on police college grounds, training members of the Haitian national police. And so when it defined we will certainly come to the pubic.”
Speaking about the recent spike in violent crime in the country, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said on Friday that members of the public have a personal responsibility to make criminals known to police.
“The greatest concern is whether or not the public is listening to the advice the police have been giving for the last two and a half years, and we’ve been echoing, which is that we all know that people who have this mindset are not in our national interests,” he said.
Mr Munroe was speaking with reporters at an event in which the US Embassy presented four vessels to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
“The police, the Commissioner, Chief Supt Skippings have been saying for two and a half years they’re also not in your personal interests,” he said.
“And so as I said on a interview at the beginning of this year, we have to make a decision as to what type of country we want to live in. And we make that decision quite simply. It is clear now, if it wasn’t before, that these young men appear to have no regard for life at all, and no regard for anything.
“And so if they’re around you, they have no regard for anybody else’s life and you have a responsibility, you have a personal responsibility, to make them known to the police. You can’t just say it has nothing to do with you.”
Mr Munroe added that firearms only have one purpose.
“If you see something, say it to the police,” he said.
“A gun only has one purpose, a handgun has one purpose, and that is to kill. An assault weapon has one purpose and that is to kill. So don’t delude yourself into thinking that your son, your nephew, your neighbour has it for anything other than that.
“And so, quite clearly, the Commissioner, Chief Supt Skippings, we’ve been saying for two and a half years, the police are counting on all of us. Because after they do these things, (they) will be caught – I think it was under an hour so yesterday. But that’s after the damage is done.
“Somebody would have known these young people have the guns. Speak up, otherwise you are part of the conspiracy that’s causing these problems.”
On the subject of bail, Mr Munroe said a collaborative effort is needed.
“Well, the Commissioner, he speaks from the point of being a law enforcement official. And he speaks with the passion that brings to it. But the one thing he did say, that people need to focus on, is it has to be a collaborative effort. We all have to come to the table. He said that. The Attorney General said that yesterday. Khalil Parker, the president of the Bar, said that yesterday. The Chief Justice said that.
“I have indicated from last year, the Chief Justice has agreed to a task force and that is what it's going to be focussed on.
“What the Attorney General has said, which is an approach going forward, is that the Court of Appeal has said that bail can be denied for somebody's own safety or for the safety of the public. We have seen that when people come to kill these fellas, other people may be injured.
“So the Court of Appeal has said that's a basis, the Attorney General has said that the office of the DPP will be more aggressive when police provide the evidence that this is gang related, retaliation related, to object to bail.
“And, if the Supreme Court judge still grants it, to appeal it to the Court of Appeal. That is in effect what the Chief Justice said as well is the way to go.”
The minister added that the Office of The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is going to be more aggressive.
“So we're going to be more aggressive, the office of the DPP, our lawyers, in terms of prosecutions,” Mr Munroe said. “As a lawyer, I can tell you, you get to hold your lawyer to account. So just as the Commissioner produced those statistics, the police will be holding the office of the DPP to account, to make their objections to bail. That if the judges grant the bail then to appeal those grants of bail to the Court of Appeal.
And, as the Chief Justice says, the person remains in custody while that appeal moves forward.”