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Taking a solid look at transparency
9/14/2012
It is always interesting to hear certain professionals in Barbados speak about transparency of the system as it pertains to The Royal Barbados Police Force, conducting their own investigations of the officers within the constabulary. The latest protagonist is Mr. David Comissiong, a well know Pan Africanist and attorney-at-law.
The logic and rational espoused by Mr. Comissiong and others cannot be denied, in that, there will always be some level of distrust when an organisation is tasked with investigating its own; however, what I find so interesting, is that in the case of the legal profession, the same situation exists. Attorneys-at-law are tasked with investigating wrong doings by members in their profession, yet I don’t hear a peep out of anyone as to the transparency of this process.
I’m left to wonder the reason for this glaring deficiency, and I can only conclude, that it would have to do with the trustworthiness of the two professions. Attorneys-at-law, as guardians of our legal systems, must by virtue of their status in society, be more immune from the forces that would cause police officers from conducting a fair investigation of their own, and hence, are quite capable of conducting such investigations without prejudice.
But doesn’t something seem wrong about casting such aspirations on one profession and not on the other? Why are Attorneys allowed to investigate their own? Why are doctors, politicians, engineers and other professionals allowed this privilege, with no outcry from those within these professions or outside? Yet, at the drop of a hat members within these professions like Mr. Comissiong can be heard decrying the system where police officers investigate their own. Why not clean your own house before you go trying to clean someone else’s home? Why not show the police officers the same respect and regard you seem to have for your own profession, and their ability to be fair in their assessment?
Transparency must not be used as a tool in one’s effort to garnish popularity or for any other purpose than making the present system better. With this goal in mind then, we can’t just look at one organisation. We must look at all professional bodies with similar mechanisms for dealing with public concerns and seek to make the necessary provisions to ensure that our citizens are being afforded the best representation. Anything else is just posturing.
Peter “Socks” Dottin
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