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Brathwaite: Support the RBPF’s efforts
1/13/2010
MEMBER of Parliament for St. Philip South Adriel Brathwaite is calling for greater support of the Royal Barbados Police Force.
“Although I think we all recognise that there were occasions where the police all over the world, may go overboard or may have gone overboard in terms of the zeal to obtain evidence... I think overwhelmingly in Barbados we accept that we have a Force that works within the best interest of all Barbadians”.
His comments came in the Lower House in response to St. Michael South East Hamilton Lashley’s comments of
“police beatings” during yesterday’s debate.
“I am a bit concerned when I hear from the
honourable member preaching about police beatings, but not spending time to deal with the
conditions under which they work, to spend time acknowledging that they make outstanding contributions under very trying circumstances”.
“And I would therefore like to urge him and others in the community that maybe if they spend more time dealing with the positives of the police force and [they would have] a more harmonious relationship. I think that as Members of Parliament if we do that, we send the right signal to our constituents and hopefully it would mean that we would have less conflict between the police and our constituents,” Brathwaite said.
He said that while it is acknowledged that there are some deficiencies in the judicial system that cause cases to take a long time to come before the Court, there are other factors that must be taken into consideration.
He suggested that some lawyers and the accused can be blamed for ensuring that court matters are delayed.
“The accused are known to change attorneys deliberately so that it takes a bit longer for them to appear in court, so that hopefully the police officers would disappear or not remember their statements. We always hear about how long the system takes but we never hear the fact that there are people within the criminal system who use the system to ensure that their matters are not dealt with in a timely manner”.
“Whereas we all want to recognise is that the system isn’t perfect. I think that we all must acknowledge that it is not always the State that causes the delay but sometimes the accused and their “supporters” within the system. And I use “supporters” advisably,” he said.
The Member of Parliament alluded to the fact that there seems to be a shortage of draughtsmen in Barbados, which needs to be resolved.
“We seem not to be having the speed of new legislation and if necessary, it is required for us to purchase these resources. I would urge the Attorney General to ensure that we can have more legislation coming to Parliament in a timely manner”. (JH)
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