PCA waiting eight years for more power

Darren Bahaw, Clint Chan Tack and Carla Bridglal

A staggering number of police killings, and other offences of alleged criminal conduct by cops, have put significant public pressure on the sole independent body mandated to investigate police officers.

But the Police Complaints Authority says its hands are tied by limited powers to act.

A statement issued by the PCA, hours after the Prime Minister said that the body was not functioning as it should, itemised the number of legislative changes it needed to deliver speedier results.

The PCA has been thrown into the public spotlight after police shot and killed three men at Second Caledonia, Morvant, on Saturday and video footage showed two of the vicrims with their hands in the air when they were confronted by a dozen officers. The confrontation took place less than 12 hours after a police officer, PC Allen Moseley, was shot dead in the same district.

The killings sparked two days of fiery protests in the capital city and several other areas and led to the arrest of 72 people on the first day of violent confrontation between the police and protesters who demanded justice. Both Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and National Security Minister Stuart Young claimed the protesters were influenced by criminal gangs to destabilise the country and the action was not linked to the Morvant killings.

Dr Rowley pressed for calm and restraint during a media briefing on Thursday, urging protesters that there was a stark difference between justice and revenge.

Rowley called on the PCA to prioritise its investigation into the Morvant killings and said he was not aware the body needed additional resources.

"I would be less than honest with you if I just tell you leave it to the PCA," Rowley said.

He said justice must be done for those against whom allegations were made, for people who lost members of their family or community and for the population to see that "something has gone on, and these are the people who are held accountable." Unfortunately, Rowley said, "This has not been our experience, that we could just sit back and say okay, leave it to the PCA and one day they will churn out a result."

Rowley opined the PCA "has not been functioning that way and that loss or absence of confidence is there.

"So we have to ensure that there are proper investigations that generate evidence."

Should this not happen, Rowley said, "then the next step of the process is anticipated." That step, he continued, "is a full coroner's inquest to determine where the facts are not clear, to determine who is responsible. We cannot take the position that there are too many people on the scene, so we cannot determine which one the evidence has to be sought for, to its fullest."

Asked if the PCA should be given greater investigative powers or authority, Rowley replied, "I am not going to pronounce on that here today, except to say that we have a number of arms of the State and their jurisdiction and their assignments are read fairly clear."

He added, "A call for more authority in that area is not an elimination of your jurisdiction or your duty."

The Prime Minister said he too wanted justice, but proper evidence-gathering was essential. “In this situation, to call for immediate action without the evidence is to call for revenge as against justice. I believe that all those people who are calling for justice are completely correct and I find common cause with them. Those who are demanding revenge, I warn against that.”

There must be a clear distinction between justice and revenge, he said.

For this year alone 46 people have been killed by the police, numerous others shot and in every instance the PCA launches an investigation.

The organisation, which is led by David West,  former head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, has been clamouring for more teeth to get the job done. West was first appointed director of the PCA in 2014 and reappointed by the President in 2019 for another five-year term after  the government and opposition were consulted.

Since 2012, when Gillian Lucky was PCA director, now a Court of Appeal judge, proposals were sent to the Legislative Review Committee, in the Attorney General's Office to be approved.

The PCA in its statement on Thursday said it looked forward "to our continued work with that committee to finalise these amendments which would better serve the PCA's and the public's interests."

Among the additional powers being sought by the PCA are:

• Strengthening the requirement for immediate notification by the offices of the

Commissioner of Police and the Police Service Commission in relation to matters within

the PCA’s purview;

• Being allowed to retrieve scientific evidence from the scenes of officer-involved shootings,

including firearms, ammunition and DNA;

• Preserving the scenes of officer-involved shootings;

• Submitting for testing all evidence obtained during an interrogation of the scene of an

officer-involved shooting.

Some four years later, after a public consultation on the proposed amendments, the Attorney General agreed that the PCA's powers were too limited, the statement said.

Without legislation, the PCA has to rely on other institutional bodies, including the police service, "which as a result, delays the course of our investigations."

Additionally, the PCA says, this posed further challenges in receiving critical documents from the Forensic Science Centre, such as post mortems and certificates of analysis; the police investigative files for auditing purposes; and reports from officers who discharged their firearms or were present during such discharges, in a a timely manner.

In an attempt to optimise the co-operation between the PCA and the police, talks began to formulate a memorandum of understanding, but the terms and conditions are yet to be finalised, the statement said.

"In spite of these challenges, the PCA has made significant referrals to both the offices of the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions," it added.