POLICE Commissioner Clayton Fernander.
By LETRE SWEETING
POLICE Commissioner Clayton Fernander said officers have “the right to do what they have to do” when confronted with armed people who put their lives in danger.
He added that police are not “in the business” of letting off “warning shots” in these situations.
His comment came three days after a man was shot dead during an encounter with police when he produced a handgun and engaged the officers, officials said.
Commissioner Fernander spoke about police-involved shootings, rising crime and the establishment of a new task force while a guest on the Jones and Company programme on Jones Communication Network with host Dr Godfrey Eneas.
“We are not in the business of no warning shots,” the police chief said. “If your officers’ lives are in danger, or any civilians (are in danger), they have the right to do what they have to do.
“If an individual pulls a weapon on you, you can’t wait for them to (shoot). Growing up, you never thought that someone will actually shoot at a police officer in uniform. Just their presence in uniform, should say, ‘boy I can’t do that.’”
He also spoke about steps taken to establish a new task force that will include officers from all law enforcement agencies to better combat violent crime.
He echoed his statements made last month as a guest on Jerome Sawyer’s “Beyond the Headlines” television show, saying officers’ work is more burdensome when courts release those arrested on bail and police then often arrest the same person for the same offence.
“It’s hard for a family to see the person responsible for the death of their brother, their loved one, you in the food store shopping and they on bail and they on the side of you shopping. It’s hard to see that,” he said.
Therefore, assembling a joint task force is necessary, Commissioner Fernander added.
“I will move quickly to identify a firearms taskforce. Our task force unit will consist of those same agencies (law enforcement agencies). We have already identified two officers from all of those agencies who will be a part of this task force, including our US partners.”
He also said, “The office will be housed at police headquarters. We have already done our vetting with police officers. That office should be open between now and the second week in September.”
The police chief added that the majority of the illegal guns are coming from the United States.
“Firearms continue to come into our country and get into the hands of criminals and eventually being used in the commission of offence,” he said.
He also noted some improvements and restructuring happening to the police intelligence unit, as he promised during the official handover ceremony at police headquarters on July 5.
“We continue to upgrade and we continue to train. We have officers now and we have our US partners who (are) assisting with the training and we have to continue to step up our game,” he said.
“I’m not happy to that level to brag about it, but we are doing an excellent job in terms of executing, because we are an intelligent, driven police force and we had a lot of success based on our intel and we could only take it to another level,” he said.
“We should be in a position to say, based on who gets killed tonight - if we don’t pay attention - we almost could tell you who the next victim could be,” he said.
He added that the Firearms and Gang Units of the police force will become more active in the community and a stand-alone Domestic Violence Unit also will be implemented.
Commissioner Fernander’s comments come as the country faces around 90 murders recorded so far for the year.
Just last weekend, Bahamian track and field Olympic sprinter Shavez Hart was tragically shot dead early on Saturday in Abaco.
On Thursday, a man was shot and killed by police when he produced a handgun and engaged the officers.
Last year, 21 police-involved shootings were recorded, 13 of which were fatal.
Comments
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
So the mere holding of a licensed firearm not pointed at anyone now gives the police the right to shoot and kill you on the spot, with no questions asked and without any warning.
Just think about that the next time dangerous trespassers and/or home invaders are on your property late at night and you tell your wife to call the police while you arm yourself with your licensed shotgun to protect your wife and children.
This idiot Fernander is telling his officers that upon arrival at your home they have the right to immediately shoot any armed person on sight. And that of course would include innocent you standing there on your own property holding your licensed shotgun in a safe and non-threatening manner with the intent of protecting your family from dangerous trespassers and/or home invaders. Fernander was obviously born without a thinking cap!
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
P.S.: And with Fernander's instruction and blessing, the arriving police officers in the scenario I described above probably would still shoot you on sight, no warnings or questions asked, if they even see your licensed shotgun lying on the ground anywhere near you!
All of this of course presupposes the police would even respond to your frightened wife's emergency phone call!!
Flyingfish 2 years, 2 months ago
A Handgun isn't legal for the general public and rarely is there a situation where you'd end up pointing your firearm, nonetheless a handgun, at police unless you're trying to kill them.
In this case is a handgun not shotgun so no need for the speculative remarks. If you would want more police accountability, As I do, I would recommend supporting Body Cam introduction to the RBPF
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
Like most things owned and maintained by our government, the body-cams would work on day one, may be on day two, but never from day three on.
Flyingfish 2 years, 2 months ago
True!! :)
mandela 2 years, 2 months ago
if anyone engages in pointing a firearm at the police will and should be shot, simple.
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
Not so simple when the police are frequently the only witnesses to say whether the firearm was pointed at them.
hrysippus 2 years, 2 months ago
Most of , or perhaps every, police force have some policemen who are crooked. For instance the California Serial killer in California unmasked only decades after his notoriety as the Hillside tangler. The London Metropolitan Police Force recently had a similar officer albeit on on a smaller scale. It would be foolish to believe that the Bahamas has no crooked police officers. A crooked police officer will carry a ""throw down gun." This gun is planted on a person who has been shot and killed as a justification for the killing. And this is why it is so important that people killed by the police and accused of producing a firearm have their hands tested for gunpowder residue to ascertain if they have indeed discharged a firearm. Of course this will never actually happen and the country will continue to record one of the highest rates of police killings in the world. Sad really.
TalRussell 2 years, 2 months ago
Comrades, oh well, yes, I'd fess up if just maybe on this one ... it turns out that 'Thee' Mr. Minnis and Marvin Dames time in governing office biographies' are both frightfully owed a correction rewriting to read ... How the two reds best-efforts instincts, somehow just might've managed have gotten their Crime Strategy Pathway dead on right in their joint repurposing efforts at distancing's the then Assistant Commissioner Clayton Fernander be kept far enough away from engaging in any meaningful active constabulary senior officer duties' by their joint decision at keeptin' him out there in 2021 repurposing limbo' ― Yes?
Porcupine 2 years, 2 months ago
Nobody should blame the police for increasing crime, unless the police are actively committing the crime themselves. The police can only be reactionary to the social problem of crime. No police force anywhere attracts the brightest of society. Neither the pay, nor the working conditions can do so. To truly understand the roots of crime and the social conditions which contribute to it, requires years of scholarship and a broad based education. The real roots of crime are based on economic conditions and more specifically economic inequality. If this sounds foreign, it is because we keep listening to those professional police who, despite the abject failures on their watch, still are given a platform to speak with authority. Even despite a poor and inadequate education. Like many areas, the police rise through the ranks not based on knowledge and performance, but on politics. Just like in all the other areas of our society where politics trumps competence, we continue to promote the lesser qualified individuals. The rise in crime is a predictable result of economic conditions and a lack of investment in our children. Economically and educationally. And, most importantly, poor parenting, or lack of parenting altogether guarantees a generation that cannot critically think well enough to start closing in on the problems and solutions. And, if they can't get a good job, then what? It doesn't require a genius to figure these things out. But, it does require a really good education. The Bahamas operates on a very low educational level from our top politicians and religious leaders to the vast majority of our country. You may take offense at this statement, but this is the truth. Until we value education, not just for the individual, but for the benefit of our country, no good choices can be made. We will forever be ready to take those few dollars for a vote because we simply can't imagine any different. Crime will continue to increase, even if the police start shooting anyone who even looks suspicious. It isn't about the police. Nor, should it be.
bahamianson 2 years, 2 months ago
All racism. Are.these white officers shooting poor innocent black bahamian males?
realfreethinker 2 years, 2 months ago
I am afraid of this COP
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