Civilian oversight bodies like the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) are becoming increasingly important given the increasing lack of confidence in the Police Service, says President Anthony Carmona.
Carmona, speaking at the inaugural conference hosted by the PCA on oversight and law enforcement at the Hyatt Hotel, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, emphasised though that any institutional authority with the remit of law enforcement oversight must retain its respect and confidence and protect its independence.
Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Carmona recommended, could assist in building confidence in oversight bodies both from the public and law enforcement perspective.
“So great is public’s pause on law enforcement that the words ‘police’ and ‘integrity’ when juxtaposed can sometimes amount to a type of misnomer.
“The public and any self-respecting democracy intuitively crave a Police Service that is free of corruption, political influence, financial favours and misconduct in the course of executing its duties,” Carmona said.
But there were many who would vouch for the integrity of some police officers who placed their life and limb at risk in the conduct of their duties, he added.
A former prosecutor in the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office for some 18 years, Carmona said he encountered officers who refused to fabricate evidence to ensure the conviction of a notorious gangster; who would not brutalise and coerce an accused person into signing a confession statement and who were sticklers for following assiduously the Standing Orders of the Police Service and the Judges’ Rules.
“Regrettably, I also know the other side of law enforcement, having prosecuted officers for misbehavior in public office, murder and conspiracy to murder, perverting the course of public justice and possession of dangerous drugs for the purpose of trafficking, in short, men in uniform who are unfit guardians and gatekeepers of our system of justice, due process and the rule of law.
“And therein lies the raison de e’tre of civilian oversight. It provides a system of access for redress to the public for police misconduct and malpractice in a fair, just, transparent and independent manner,” Carmona said. He said throughout the region, countries were still trying to appreciate fully the need of impartial civilian oversight, adding that regrettably societies have grown suspicious about any and everything.
“The outcry for effective civilian oversight by the public is a response, sometimes more a reaction, seldom dispassionate, to high-profile allegations of police brutality, misconduct and abuse of power.
“Civilian oversight, therefore, ought to be a priority in the world’s democracies, in part because of the increased information and communication of police misconduct disseminated via social media and the internet,” Carmona said.
Camera phones, he added, brought much law enforcement brutality and misconduct to light just as they were responsible for exonerating those of false allegations. He said the conference presented an opportunity to discuss crucial matters including whether the PCA should be granted prosecutorial powers.