COP Miller explains delay in charging detectives

Commissioner of Police Keith Miller has indicated that the arrest of four police officers could not have been made any sooner, given a number of important factors that had to be taken into consideration.{{more}}

Speaking at the launch of the Police Summer Music Programme at the Old Montrose Police Station on Monday, Miller said that after holding dialogue with the Director of Public Prosecutions Colin Williams and senior members of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF), a decision was taken that the appropriate time to arrest and charge the men would be after Operation Vincy Pac and Carnival.

“We had Vincy Pac here, and two of those persons were involved in Vincy Pac.”

“It’s a case where we had asked persons to come in. Over 400 people came in from overseas to conduct a major operation and we did not want to put a damp on the spirit of those persons who were asked to come here and go in the mountains and clean it up.”

“Straight from Vincy Pac we went into Carnival. Again, it was not the best time to arrest four of our members. We did not want to dampen the spirit of our policemen. It’s arrest on policemen, and you never know what would have spilled off as a result of the arrests.”

On Thursday, July 9th, Detective Constables Hadley Ballantyne and Osrick James and Detective Corporals Kosanki Quow and Elmore Alexander were arrested and charged with causing actual bodily harm to 15-year-old Jemark Jackson on November 17th, 2008, which caused the juvenile to be hospitalized.

The charge against Alexander was subsequently dropped, following a directive by DPP Williams.

Miller acknowledged during his address that following complaints from the general public, he had scheduled meetings with various departments of the RSVGPF at which he intended to continue to urge them to be polite and professional.

“From day to day, I encourage members to continue to work hard, to continue to be professional in what they do, to always be courteous, to be polite.”

“We cannot cross the lines, otherwise we will be judged by the books. The laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines give us certain authority and we must operate within the confines of the law,” Miller stated.

He also took the opportunity to take a swipe at the media, calling for fair reporting on police matters.

“Freedom of speech has its limitations. As sensible disc jockeys and sensible journalists I think when people are reporting, what they should do is make some investigations, make some enquiries and do some balanced reporting, so that members of the public could be correctly educated, rather than getting one side of the story.”