The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

INSPECTOR Dwight Smith has been re-elected Chairman of the Police Staff Association (PSA), according to unofficial results from Monday’s election.

His re-election comes after he was suspended from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) after he was charged with indecent assault; a charge he denies.

Smith told The Tribune yesterday that the support for his re-election bid has been “overwhelming” and that attempts to sully his character would not stop him from “fighting for the rights of people”.

“I went through a lot of stuff with people saying all sorts of stuff about me,” he said.

“There were times when I would go home and sit down and have to try and get back into the right frame of mind. There were attacks from high and below but if I was here initially to fight for the cause, then that’s what I stayed to do.”

He added: “I have to walk circumspectly and be very careful in what I do. A great majority of persons came to vote for me and the recent issues involving me got international attention, with colleagues of mine from the US and around the Caribbean saying that they wanted to come and support me.”

As for the election process, Smith said: “We had a great turn out. This is the best turnout they ever had. I don’t know why it was like this but it’s great.”

Smith pleaded not guilty to a charge of indecent assault when he appeared at court last Thursday.

Prosecutors allege that Smith inappropriately touched a woman and flashed his privates on December 27.

He was granted $5,000 bail with one surety.

Last year, Smith criticised the government for placing police officers on a 12-hour shift for nearly three months without pay.

His attorney, Devard Francis, told the Tribune last week that he thought it was “strange that before the staff association elections...that he would be charged. I’m extremely disheartened that his family has to see him go through this pain and anguish and having to be going before the courts in handcuffs.”