The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Police Complaints Inspectorate has been critically disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and has not completed its prioritised tasks, according to chairman Tanya McCartney.

The civilian organisation – an important police oversight body – is supposed to ensure investigations into police complaints are conducted properly.

The US State Department noted in its human rights report last year that the body had not met as of September 2017.

The Minnis administration subsequently appointed five people, including Ms McCartney, retired assistant commissioner John Ferguson, Matthew Aubry, Allan Emmanuel, Franklyn Bethel and Hilbert Collie.

Ms McCartney said yesterday the members were reappointed when their 12-month tenure ended in July.

She said last year that the body would focus on “ensuring enhancement of existing processes for making complaints by informing the public of the current procedures, reviewing and making recommendations to the minister where opportunities are identified for improved efficiency, benchmarking of our own complaints procedures against those of more developed countries and earnestly reviewing the handling of complaints which are pending today”.

She also said the body would review all active complaints lodged with the Complaints and Corruption Branch of the police force.

Yesterday, she said: “We began our review of existing or pending cases and of cases that were high profile and in the public domain to ensure they were resolved expeditiously. That was really beginning in earnest when we were interrupted.

“We were provided by police with the listing of all pending matters, what was live and current, but none of this information is digital and it requires a review of files and documents. Because of the pandemic, we haven’t been able to do our deep dive into the files. Hopefully we get some normalcy where we can resume our work.”

Attorney Elliot Lockhart previously served as head of the inspectorate.

US human rights reports have frequently highlighted either the body’s low output of work or the lack of information about its actions. Since the Police Act 2009 established the body, little has been revealed about its work.

In 2018, the US State Department wrote that the Inspectorate had not met as of September 4, 2017.

In 2017, the US wrote it did not provide statistics in 2016 and in 2016 it wrote that it did not meet as of October 2015.

In 2015 and 2014, the US wrote that “no information was available on the outcome of PCIO proceedings” for 2014 and 2013 and in 2013, the US wrote that “the government declined to provide more recent data” concerning the PCIO for 2012, adding: “The PCIO, which is composed of five citizens met eight times during 2011 to consider 60 complaints against officers, most of which involved assault and unlawful arrest cases. No information was available on the outcome of the PCIO proceedings.”

Critics have complained about the lack of transparency surrounding investigations into accusations of police misconduct.