20 officers sent in joint operation
Opposition calls move “disturbing”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Royal Bahamas Police Force Commissioner Clayton Fernander yesterday suggested there could be a link between the deadly transnational gang turf war gripping the Turks and Caicos Islands and local crime trends.
Fernander confirmed about 20 officers were sworn in as special constables.
“If everyone is paying attention,” he said.
“You can see the same trend that’s occurring on Turks Island. And we believe based on our intel it could be some nexus. So it’s a reason for that. And it will assist in the long run.”
Last week, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kendall Strachan was sworn in as a special constable in Turks and Caicos as part of the special cooperation between the two governments.
However, the recent spate of murders and armed robberies has led to public scrutiny and criticism of the deployment.
For his part, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe yesterday defended the decision to deploy some 20 officers to the Turks and Caicos Islands as being in the “Bahamian national interest”.
“Does anybody know what they’re going there to do? So then how could you criticize something if you don’t have a clue what their mission is?” Munroe said yesterday.
“That shows that the criticism is gratuitous, not fact-based, not evidence-based. We’ve set out a statement, it’s a joint exercise.
“Common sense would tell you that that is something that’s in the Bahamian national interest. If anybody believes that the Royal Bahamas Police Force shouldn’t act in the interests of the Bahamas, then that criticism is very easily answered,” he said.
Munroe said he could not give further details on the nature of the mission due to its high level of confidentiality.
“Hypothetically, let’s say they are there to capture Bahamian criminals, do they think that that is something they should do? So the bottom line to it is, we have made the statement we have, we’re not going to entertain responses to things that are not fact or evidence-based.”
Opposition leader Michael Pintard yesterday acknowledged that countries cannot singularly protect themselves from transnational crime but called the deployment disturbing given the “bloodshed in our own country”.
He called on the government to explain its rationale in a statement as he pointed to an alleged 18 percent increase in homicides.
“Bahamian police officers being seconded to the TCI Constabulary is, however, something distinctly different,” Pintard said.
“We are sensitive of the fact that the British Government is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in its territory but it is also of concern that we are currently going through a crime crisis in The Bahamas.
Pintard underscored the Davis administration is struggling to address crime, adding the government has been similarly slow and weak in explaining its overall plan for crime prevention, enforcement, interdiction, and rehabilitation.
He furthered that coordination of other stakeholders is also lacking.
Pintard said: “Therefore, it is disturbing that some of the very officers they claim are pivotal (indispensable) to their crime-fighting strategy have been shipped to our sister country to fight a similar crime war there. We want our sister country TCI to be safe and are prepared to help beyond the traditional accords we have entered into.
“We are facing a crisis and the need for human and other resources is great and urgent. Policymakers must have a greater sense of urgency and this must be seen and heard when they speak and act.”
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