Dames: Some law enforcement officers not taking oath seriously

Dames: Some law enforcement officers not taking oath seriously

Minister of National Security Marvin Dames on Monday lamented that there are still officers from various law enforcement agencies who are breaking the law, creating a bad name for those who take their oath to serve seriously.

“We have some of these individuals in uniform, be it the corrections department, the police, the defence [Force], customs and immigration, who still are not taking their oath seriously enough, and that does not bode well with me or the vast majority of decent officers in all of these agencies, and so we will find them,” said Dames, who was addressing the press yesterday at the Police Headquarters.

His comments came the same day a second Bahamas Department of Corrections (BDOC) officer was arraigned in court.

Asked if there was an internal probe at the BDOC Dames only responded, “We will find them. I don’t want to get into what’s going on or not [at the BDOC], but what you can see is they are yielding results and so we will continue to do it as long as it takes.”

Yesterday, BDOC officer Dennis Watson, 21, was charged with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply.  He was ordered to pay a fine of $2,000 or one year in prison with bail set at $5,000 each.

Earlier this month, Antonio Harrison Cash, 27, pleaded guilty to drug possession with the intent to supply. He was sentenced to three months behind bars and was fined $2,000. He was also ordered to receive counselling by prison chaplain Leonard Clark.