PM Gonsalves urges civilians to pursue their rights

When it comes to addressing police brutality, too few persons who accuse police officers of bad behavior pursue their rights.

“Very often people are not pursuing their rights,” Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves told reporters last week at Cabinet Room, adding that when officers are investigated internally, the investigating parties should function in an efficacious manner.

He said that occasionally, some persons do pursue their rights, because the evidence does come out from time to time that police do commit abuses.

“But sometimes when a person complains that a policeman hit him, sometimes the man hit the policeman too, especially if a man has a little intoxication or a couple of his partners around,” said Gonsalves.

The Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of National Security says that the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines (RSVGPF) does not need a permanent commission to investigate police infractions, but however noted that what is needed is that the RSVGPF should make sure that existing institutions, set up to deal with police misbehavior, work.

These institutions include the Police Oversight Committee and the Police Public Relations and Complaints Department.

“You can still go against the police officer criminally; you just seek permission through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), but the DPP has the power in any case to stop you from prosecuting.

“They can take it over. But you can do that…I used to put police officers in court,” Gonsalves said.

He said that when he practiced law, he took police officers to court for civil matters and criminal matters and any citizen has the right to do so once there is evidence.

The Prime Minister said that if a policeman beats and injures a civilian, that person can go to the DPP if the police force itself doesn’t do their work.

He said that person can go to a doctor, get a medical report and bring a case in the magistrate court.