“Say something Mr. Commissioner!”
Concerned Citizen - Monday, November 12th, 2012 at 10:25 AM
In the criminal justice system, police and prosecutors are like Siamese twins.
Prosecutors cannot justly secure convictions in the courts without proper police investigation. Neither can the police justly see the fruits of their labour without prosecutors being able to present proper evidence.
I am cognizant of the enormous power that lies within each investigation. Hence, I say without fear of contradiction, one poor police investigation is one – too many.
Based on that premise, it was heart-wrenching to read media reports of a Senior Prosecutor standing up in court on Friday and describing the police investigation in a particular case as” poor, sloppy and far from perfect”.
Even scarier is the fact that the prosecutor’s description of the investigation was most reasonable and appropriate.
In this particular case – The Crown VS Wakima Lettsome – a man had accused Lettsome of shooting him in the abdomen.
Sadly, the police didn’t visit the scene of the shooting; did not present any eyewitness; did not carry out an ID parade; did not present the court with a gun or any spent shell (even the one that was found in the complainant). Also, the clothing Lettsome was wearing at the time he carried out the shooting was not subjected to any type of scientific examination.
Luckily – according to media reports – the jury heeded the prosecution’s call to look beyond the “poor police investigation” and find Lettsome guilty. Frankly speaking, I do believe the jury made the right call against Lettsome who – as research shows – is no stranger to the courts.
Despite all that, there are still some lingering concerns/questions: 1. How qualified was the officer who investigated the case? 2. Was he/she supervised at any stage of the investigation? 3. Is that officer still investigating such serious cases? 4. How many more cases are so poorly investigated by the same officer and others within the force? 5. Considering the low clear-up rate in the territory, what is the quality of general police investigation?
Those are concerns and questions that should not escape the attention of the person occupying the Office of the Police Commissioner. The public needs to be reassured that never again will such serious case be left up to the whims and fancies of one seemingly clueless police officer.
Say something Mr. Commissioner!
Yours truly,
Concerned Citizen.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Send your letters to [email protected]
This article was posted in its entirety as received by bvinews.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of bvinews.com, its sponsors or advertisers.
6 Comments
Disclaimer: BVI News and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the comments below or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any public forum. All comments posted on BVINews.com reflect the views and opinions of the commentators and not that of the management and staff. Click here for our full comment/user policy/ agreement.
I agree with the author of this letter 100% however the blame needs to be spread to the office of the DPP as well. This off as I have researched is responsible for vetting every case to be prosecuted in courts. If the senior prosecuter was as competent as he would like us to believe the errors should have been identified and instructions should have been sent to the police officer or his supervisor directing him of what is needed before such a matter is brought b4 the magistrate or judge.
It is a collective effort by these entities when it come to brining someone to justice and passing of blame either was cannot be tolerated by us.
This *office
The country can’t afford to have incompetent people in law enforcement. We do not have a high crime rate. The minute potential criminals realize they will not be subjected to fullest extent of the law via incompetency, all hell will break loose.
He just got promoted for his good work. The public can clearly see what’s going on.
Seize the time writer. Those police in this case needs to be reassigned of dismissed from the force. Time to get serious with sloppy police work.
AMEN to that!!! Bet the same officer got a promotion too! LOL only in the BeeWeeEye….was an internal investigation carried out? Is there an Independent Internal INvestigations Unit for the RVIPF? If not it is needed and long overdue!
Post a Comment