The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AN investigation has been launched after a police officer was caught on video displaying aggressive conduct to several residents on Abaco, officials said.

In the minute-long video, which surfaced online earlier this week, the officer, who appears to be off-duty and is not wearing a uniform, is seen walking around with a gun in his hand, shouting at bystanders. Several seconds into the video, the officer is seen putting the gun away and is heard saying, “Y’all think this Abaco police, eh? Record bro, record. This (expletive) Nassau police bey. Don’t play with me bey (sic).”

The footage also shows two men attempting to lure him away from the area. As the officer then proceeds to walk away, a bystander is heard saying, “Twice, he done shoot that gun off, twice.”

The video has since been shared hundreds of times on Facebook, sparking public outrage.

One Facebook user said: “This man is endangering the lives of people around him. He needs to be fired immediately. Intoxicated and has a weapon.”

Another person wrote: “So, he’s off-duty extremely intoxicated and volatile with a loaded firearm… is this a police force or is this country playing cops and robber? Obviously, this is a game.”

When contacted by The Tribune yesterday, head of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Complaints and Corruptions Unit, Supt Marlon Fulford said the incident was being investigated.

The Tribune understands that the officer in question is no longer on Abaco.

After Hurricane Dorian in early September, the government deployed a number of law enforcement officers to Abaco to address safety concerns on the island.

However, in recent weeks, many residents there have been complaining about the officers, claiming some have been abusing their rights and using harsh tactics to intimidate locals.

Asked by The Tribune recently on the measures being taken to address these concerns, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said: “We’re living in a social media era. Everything we do has the potential of being placed on social media as it’s happening or the minute after it would have taken place.

“We would have recognised that. We’re moving to a place now where we already signed a contract for body and dash cams so we’re saying, we’re a government of transparency (and) our police officers, our law enforcement officers are servants of the public.

“It’s very important to us as a government to ensure that whatever they do is as transparent as possible. That’s why we’re taking the steps to do that. We’re taking the steps to create a higher level of transparency.”

Still, Mr Dames maintained that “no-one is above the law”, especially police officers.

“And we continue to say that, and we have independent group looking at every police complaint alright and that group consists of human rights individuals. It consists of persons from the civil society,” he continued.

“We want people to see that this is not, we’re not in the business of protecting wrong and I want to make that clear. Not because you wear a uniform that every action that you undertake is protected.

“That’s not how it works. All of us are governed by the laws of this land. Every one of us, no matter where we sit, we’re governed by it.”