Training is Not the Issue, Application Is, Says ComPol Williams

And, if any one of the accused in those investigations is criminally charged then the matter goes before the courts. There is a concern, however, that accused criminals may be getting off too easily in court because some police officers are not doing their due diligence when cautioning alleged perpetrators upon making an arrest.  It is one of the issues being raised in the ongoing Bladen twelve trial and it can lead to the dismissal of crucial evidence. Today, reporters asked ComPol Williams if officers are in need of more training in this area.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“The truth is we do a number of trainings. In service training is done every week across the country and the trainers, because what we have done is that in each of the regions and formations we have established lead training officers and we also have RTOs which are regional training officers. What they do is to ensure that they look at weaknesses in their respective area of work and with the concurrence of the OC or the regional commander they would put together training to cover those areas of weaknesses to strengthen the police ability to be able to respond to the needs of the public in a more efficient manner. So I would not say that there is a issue in terms of training. Perhaps there is an issue in terms of police officers applying the training they are getting and that is an area we may need to look at to ensure the content of these trainings we are doing every week is translated into the performance of the police. And like you said when it comes to the whole issue of cautioning a person and the person saying certain things after having been cautioned, it is always good to reduce that to writing immediately, but in instance where it is not then it can be done as soon as possible after. I think the law speak to the issue of contemporaneous. It can be done as soon as possible after, the first opportune time that the officer can get to reduce in writing what is said then the officer can do so and in those circumstances then it should be admissible.”