PRIME Minister Bruce Golding has kept his 2007 election campaign promise in appointing a special prosecutor to investigate fatal and other shootings by members of the security forces. The special prosecutor is barrister-at-law Terrence Williams and he will head the Independent Commission of Investigations which will be staffed by civilian investigators. The commission will replace the police organisation, Bureau of Special Investigation and the Police Public Complaints Authority. The BSI was established in 1999.

In announcing the establishment of the BSI in Parliament, then Prime Minister PJ Patterson said the organisation would operate out of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. It would investigate all cases of police shootings and also allegations of police corruption. The director of public prosecutions would not be doing the actual investigation but would be brought into the picture at the initial stage of the report and guide the investigative process from the early stages as distinct from undertaking it directly, Patterson said.

Files of BSI investigation of police personnel were sent directly to the DPP even before they reached the commissioner of police. However, there has been much public outcry before and since the establishment of the BSI. The basis of the criticism is that police cannot properly investigate police. Even when the BSI carried out flawless investigations, there was suspicion and mistrust. In its first few years, there was cause for mistrust as some statements taken by investigators, especially police fatal shootings, had holes and had to be sent back by the DPP to the BSI investigators for further investigation. Whether the holes were deliberate or due to carelessness was never established.

Under the new leadership of Assistant Commissioner Granville Gauze five years ago, the position significantly improved. Of course, Gauze, whose guiding principles were impartiality and transparency, became the most disliked cop in the police force because he was doing his job well. Suspicion persisted almost universally because, as human rights lobbyists put it, “The police cannot and should not investigate itself”.

The momentum grew until Golding decided to set up the commission.The BSI has never had its full complement of staff – 60 – but since Commissioner Owen Ellington came to office, he has increased the complement from 15 to 58. The record shows that 238 police personnel were charged for various offences between 1999 and July 30, 2010 as a result of BSI investigations. The figures tell a story. 1999 –1 charged; 2000 – 15; 2001– 6; 2002 – 15; 2003 – 37; 2004 – 50; 2005 – 17; 2006– 21, 2007–17; 2008 – 17, 2009 – 35; and so far this year 7.

There have been 4,208 incidents involving police personnel between 1999 and July 2010 with 1,849 fatal incidents in which there were 2,157 fatalities. All the cases have been disposed with 925 cases under investigation. The arrangements being made for the commission to take over the responsibilities of the Police Public Complaints Authority and the BSI lacked foresight. It is not sufficient just to announce the appointment of a commissioner for the commission, but it must be explained how the transition is going to take place and what is going to happen to the staff of the two agencies which have been made redundant. I find the handling of the whole matter by government unsatisfactory, especially in relation to the staff who did not know what was happening when the announcement was made. The transition is going to take some time. The BSI and PPCA are expected to continue their operations for some time under the supervision of the commissioner until the transmission has been completed.

The problem facing the commissioner is to find and train new investigators to bring them up to the level of those of those working at the BSI which it seems will be with us for some time. Among the good things about the change is that it will free up investigators to return to boost the stock of detectives in the regular police force. There are not sufficient detectives in the force.