Outrageous

THE DISCHARGE, on November 18, of criminal proceedings against seven cops, ostensibly due to procedural non-compliance, is outrageous.

The matter involved serious allegations, including extortion, misbehaviour in public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The charges had been laid by the Professional Standards Bureau of the police in April 2023.

Investigations had been led by an official who is now a deputy commissioner of police and supervised by a superintendent. The investigative team also included an assistant superintendent, an inspector and an acting corporal.

A damning video, seeming to implicate the accused, floated around on social media.

Yet instead of the allegations being definitively laid to rest or, alternatively, proven in a fair and open trial, a High Court master found reason to invoke procedural rules meant to penalise delay.

The master had issued instructions to the police on the management of the case. These were apparently ignored. No excuse was given. The officers who charged the seven were not present at the virtual hearing. A stand-in prosecutor had no brief.

When a high-wattage team of defence attorneys, led by Pamela Elder, SC, applied for the matter to be dismissed, there was no real response. The master had no choice.

In summary: this was a case in which cops probed cops, cops charged cops, cops prosecuted cops, then cops copped out of court.

As a result, cops walked free, not because they had been proven innocent or the evidence against them faulty, but rather, because of the unexplained actions of their colleagues.

In other words, it was a travesty.

In recent weeks, the already poor reputation of the service has been hit with blow after blow.

Officers – beleaguered by unabating crime – have been flouting court rules about weapons, defying orders to wear body cameras, failing to return uniforms on time, and engaging in questionable use of force.

One can be forgiven for wondering whether Erla Harewood-Christopher’s service has gone rogue.

In this regard, the Prime Minister’s disclosure in Parliament on November 18 that a new, specially-vetted entity will fall under the top cop reassures no one.

But the collapse of this case is also a spectacular PR disaster, given the drive by officials to appear competent in the face of mounting business extortion.

It was only on November 8 that Minister in the Ministry of National Security Keith Scotland went on a walkabout and vowed to crack down on such matters, noting a unit had been set up and an expert retained to make police prosecutors “more robust.”

To rogue officers engaging in shakedowns, back then he had one word: “Desist.”

In this case, cops clearly responded by saying of their colleagues: “Discharge."