CoP: Only Parliament can give police power on

THE DEBATE on whether police can raid someone's private home and arrest them if they breach public health regulations by gathering in numbers larger than five has pitted the police commissioner against the prime minister in showdown which will likely create more confusion for both the police and the public.

In a media release, CoP Gary Griffith rejected the public utterances of the chairman of the National Security Council Prime Minister Rowley which he interpreted to "alluding the police to breach (the) constitutional rights of persons by arresting them for acts committed when there was no law enacted to do so."

"I am committed to uphold the law and not break it by arresting persons illegally as proposed," Griffith stated.

The debate over the reach of the police powers on private property played out in the public domain last week following complaints against a group of people who threw a pool party at Bayside Towers, in Cocorite last Sunday.

The police were called in by the property owners but did not arrest anyone even though the people were not wearing masks, gathered in a group larger than five, and were not standing six feet apart, all breaches of the Public Health regulations in place to prevent the spread of covid19.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Rowley said the police had the power to act and he was supported by the National Security Minister that there were were laws which the police could act upon to arrest people who breach the public health regulations.

But in response, Griffith said he was "disappointed by the comments" of the PM "where he alluded to and/of insinuated that the TTPS failed to do its job" in relation to the Bayside event.

"In effect, the TTPS was thrown under the proverbial bus," the release said.

"If the PM was genuine in his claims that no one is above the law and all should be dealt with equally, he would not put the TTPS to be the fall guy by giving us the power to arrest those from humble resources who swim in public spaces, but prevents us from taking action on those who commit similar acts in the haven of luxurious pools in private property which we have been given no power to arrest such fortunate individuals," Griffith said.

"The TTPS stands ready and committed to enforce all laws passed by the Government, however, we must be wary of simply responding to public or political pressure especially as it relates to potentially abusing the rights of individuals and/or acting illegally in a quest to satisfy public or political pressure," it added.

He said based on the legal opinions the police cannot enter private property without a warrant and arrest and charge home-owners for violating the public health ordinance if they have a gathering larger than five.

"The law as currently constructed does not diminish a person's constitutional rights as a whole and in particular, their rights to enjoy property. This makes for a difficult judgement call on the part of the TTPS," the release said.

In giving an example, Griffith said "if 20 owners of property at Bayside Towers, or any other gated community, were at the common area pool relaxing, is it being suggested we should enter the compound and arrest them all for violating the covid-19 regulations simply because they number more than five? The TTPS recalls that the number established by the ordinance at the time of the general election was 10 yet we heard no outrage at that time when all political parties were pushing the limits of the law. And in those instances there was no question of private versus public space. We did then what we did in Bayside; caution persons."

"We don’t respond to perceptions of race, creed, or class. The average citizen can only enter Bayside if invited. Someone invited those people there. Bayside Residential Association has it within their rules to control these issues among themselves. They are the communal owners of that property. In this particular case, it was the very neighbours inside Bayside that called to complain, and TTPS responded. By the time we arrived we saw nothing in terms of numbers or activities consistent with what was shared on social media," he said.

But Griffith noted the while the "pandemic dictates that things cannot proceed as normal as one person’s silly actions can have a damaging effect on the entire population. Having said that, the TTPS must balance the competing interests of the Public Health Ordinance and the constitutional rights of citizens. We try to do so evenly. Since the beginning of the 'lockdown,' we have consistently taken the approach to warn and persuade ahead of arrest. The suggestion that somehow persons at one location have gotten privileges that others haven’t gotten is ridiculous, misinformed, and dangerous, and only inflames an already delicate situation.

He said the solution "lies in the hands of the Government" and not the police.

Griffith said the government must amend the law to allow police to go into private property and that should be done with the authority of Parliament "not press conferences."

"The PM should know that any changes to the constitutional rights of citizens should be done through Parliament. His Attorney General should so advise him of this. If we respond to incidents like the one at Bayside and simply start arresting people there would be hundreds of lawsuits against the State for wrongful arrest since no law would have been amended to reflect this. This approach to law enforcement, reminiscent of the illegal arrests of the 2011 State of Emergency, is obscene and if pursued, will cost the State millions of dollars in damages and legal costs after successful suits," he said.