Cops to address police brutality at training seminar

Police officers from various divisions and units were shown how to break down and analyse their thought process during confrontations with the public at a law-enforcement ethics seminar aimed at training them to recognise and prevent the use of excessive force while on duty.

The three-day seminar, organised by the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), in collaboration with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), began on Monday at the Police Administration Building, Sackville Street, Port of Spain.

Speaking at the launch, acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob said the police were given a certain amount of power to act, but it was important that officers were reminded they too must adhere to the law. He was optimistic the workshop would reinforce the principles of law while offering participants a better understanding of how to de-escalate heated confrontations.

He said officers had a right to defend themselves if under attack, but it was important to understand the situations that require certain responses and urged officers to remember they too were bound to laws and regulations.

"The key is that even though we are aware of the law and what is required of us as police officers, that mindset needs to be there so that when we are out there (in the field), the control mechanisms that are in place, we will think about it before we act – not to the point where we cause ourselves to be harmed – but knowing our laws well, knowing our use of force policy well and being aware of what is what is really and truly required of us, will allow us to be confident of our actions."

Jacob said there were certain policies within the police service and through external agencies which prevented abuse or misbehaviour by officers, noting the practice of having a First Division Officer (assistant superintendent or above) lead the enquiry in all police-involved shootings, the involvement of the PCA in enquiries and that of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in guiding investigators.

He said police also had CCTV footage and social media at their disposal to assist in their enquiries and was confident such exercises would make them more aware while improving the image of the police.

Also speaking at the event was executive director of the CCHR Denise Pitcher. She thanked the police for their co-operation in the training and was hopeful the exercise would help them approach tense situations from the angle of victims.

"The goal of this training is to place police officers in the role of the victim, to create more empathy with the victim's experience and to engender a better relationship with members of the public, because the police play an important role in terms of building communities, and a lot of the police work is engaging in the public – and that is really important in effective policing."

Deputy director of the Ministry of National Security's Office of Law Enforcement Policy (OLEP) Allan Meiguel said while the exercise had some focus on police brutality, it would deal with larger issues surrounding the general conduct of police officers.

During the workshop, officers were given an opportunity to see an example of abuse by actors playing the roles of the public and police and questioning the "officer" on whether their actions were lawful.

The workshop was also organised with assistance from the PCA's Rachael Armorer-Singh.