‘Reconsider your media silence’

FORMER chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and noted criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran has advised Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to reconsider his decision to maintain silence when dealing with journalists.

At the police press briefing earlier this week, Griffith went on a tirade against reporters and editors, claiming he was being treated unfairly by the media. He threatened a media blanket silence in his capacity as head of the police service.

But in a press release yesterday, Deosaran cautioned the top cop. A basic principle in a democracy is that all public officials, particularly those elected, are obliged to account for integrity and performance to the tax-paying public. The commissioner was elected, then appointed, Deosaran said.

The police are required to investigate fairly, without fear or favour, and knowing that “the law should be no respecter of persons.” The media, he added, have a responsibility to comment and report fearlessly, fairly and without political interference.

Given the Constitution’s provision for a free press, privacy rights and due process, the practice has been for police information to be given to the public largely through the mass media. In the instant case, if Commissioner Griffith feels offended or unfairly treated by the media, he has the right to complain and have his complaint properly reported.

“This he has been doing with his replies lavishly published,” Deosaran noted. And this right of the commissioner applies to media comments about the police investigations of TV Jaagriti and Buju Banton’s hotel room visit by police, his explanations as well as his photogenic stage appearance with Buju. This is how the system works. Clearly, however, Griffith became upset with the treatment, Deosaran noted.

Deosaran, who is also a former Independent Senator, said given the nature of crime and its serious implications, there is a time for public accountability beyond personalities, be they editors or commissioners.

Since public confidence and the commissioner’s reputation are important elements in assessment by the PSC, Deosaran suggested the PSC use its mandate to intervene and seek a productive and satisfactory outcome for the future.

The relevant Joint Select Committee should also consider its public interest role, he argued, since the commissioner and the police service are too vital to the country to endure isolation.