Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 23, 2017 (RSCNPF): The preservation of good order and discipline was one of the areas highlighted by Commissioner of Police Mr. Ian M. Queeley during a press conference on Thursday (February 23).
In the press conference attended by representatives from the local media and carried live on ZIZ Radio, the Commissioner spoke openly about with the number of disciplinary cases against Officers in the service and spoke of the measures in place to address them quickly.
Commissioner Queeley said, ” one of the concerns raised by many was that Police Officers were not being held accountable for their actions. During the past year, upon taking leadership of the Police Service we were faced with several cases against our officers for failure to perform duties, and other violations in breach of the Regulations and Standing Orders.” He added, “to ensure earliest disposition of these Disciplinary Charges, each of the ACP’s were assigned as Trial Officers to each Division and the Deputy at liberty to try in any or all of the Divisions. This has significantly reduced the backlog of cases.”
The Commissioner noted, that the Police Service was challenged with two (2) incidents of Police involved shootings. He said, “both incidents were fully investigated and the files were forwarded to the Officer of Director of Public Prosecution for review. One (1) has led to charges against one (1) of our Constables; the disposition of the other awaits completion of the review.””
Commissioner Queeley also stated that ” four (4) of our officers were charged with criminal offences. To date one case has been disposed of, with the officer being dismissed and receiving a custodial sentence from the court.”
Answering a question posed by the media as to the length of time it has taken for some of the investigations to be completed, the High Command responded, “some investigations take more time than others due to the complexity of the case.” And noted, in the end, the rights of all must be protected in the pursuit of justice.
In expressing the High Command’s commitment to ensuring good order and discipline within the Police Service Commissioner Queeley said, “I have at all times expressed and reiterated… in the instances where Officers run afoul of the law, we will investigate, and that we will hold our officers responsible for their actions to account. None is above the law.”
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Regards,
Public Relations Office
Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force
Police Headquarters
Lozack Road
Basseterre
St. Kitts
Attn: Mr. Grell Browne
publicinformationofficerscnpf@gmail.com
1-869-465-2241 (WP) EXT- 4348 or 4228
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