Rejected provisions in Police Act must come back — Governor
Several of the provisions that were rejected by lawmakers and residents in the controversial Police Bill that was withdrawn months ago from the House of Assembly (HOA) should be returned for consideration once again.
That was the position recently expressed by Governor John Rankin, who commented that he regretted some of the discussions that surrounded the Bill at the time it was being moved through the House.
“Those provisions in the Police Act which were not passed by the House of Assembly, I think [need] to come back,” Governor Rankin said. “I very much regretted some of the dialogue around the Police Act claiming it was non-human rights compliant. I simply don’t think that’s true.”
The Bill had faced tremendous pushback from members of the public and lawmakers in the HOA after several of its provisions were deemed to be too excessive and invasive.
Among the more concerning provisions of the Bill that was introduced was the empowerment of police officers to conduct searches and to take DNA evidence — including blood, urine and semen samples — without the aid of a warrant.
Lawmakers ultimately passed a watered down version of the Bill that would allow police to secure DNA samples from persons, without the inclusion of the draconian measures that had been rejected.
Standard in democratic countries
But Governor Rankin pushed back on those arguments and contended that he would never give assent to a Bill that was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, which he noted also applies in this territory.
The governor explained that a number of the provisions which were being objected to are simply standard provisions within democratic countries around the world.
“The suggestion made that the police can’t enter a home where they believe violence may be about to take place, or domestic violence may be taking place without having a warrant to enter into those homes in emergency situations, I think is simply wrong,” the governor added
He further expressed that this demonstrated an incorrect balance between human rights and public safety, which are civil liberties that both himself and the Commissioner of Police will always want to protect.
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Can the police conduct searches on properties and forcibly take dna without a warrant in the UK?
Get from here with that nonsense. You want to turn our country into a police state? The police and the DPP already abusing their authority and you want to give them more power to take advantage of the citizens? No way! Get rid of your incompetent and wicked DPP and maybe people will re-consider.
U AINT GOING TO STOP UNTIL U GET WHAT U WANT.
BARRY SAY YOU WILL HEAR!
HE THINK WE ARE LIL CHILDREN OR SOMETHING…WELL WE GOT NEWS FOR HIM…HE IS NOT DEALING WITH THE GOVERNMENT SIDE ALONE THIS TIME BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE A TOUGH WELL ROUNDED OPPOSITION, HIS MAJESTY THE KING LOYAL OPPOSITION
Them need – The Police Conduct Regulations first, not more power!
In my research I have found that the specific situations where police can search a property without a warrant in the UK are clearly defined… If the bill you pushing for here doesn’t clearly outline these specific instances where the police have this right then you need to get from here with that. Last thing we want is for it to come down to somebody’s discretion if our rights deserve to get violated or not.
https://www.claims.co.uk/knowledge-base/police/police-entry-and-search-powers#:~:text=Police%20usually%20need%20to%20obtain,search%20them%20without%20a%20warrant.
In short, yes in certain circumstances the Police can do this. The relevant legislation is the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The changes sought in the BVI reflect this Act and other international standards as indicated by the Governor.
Well, it doesn’t matter what you think. We will have to live with it when you’ve moved on to another tenure.
Be aware that the greatest amount of objection comes from the criminals.
Including the ones in government.
Governor Get FROM HERE with ya nonsense we don’t want it and you cant force it upon us or we marching in the streets
I keep telling all that this Governor has no good intentions for the BVI. He is setting us up to fail and keep fighting each other so he can have a bloodless war and take over. Notice the two main issues he is constantly pushing vigorously, the “so-called” backlog of Belongers, specifically for his kind, so the BVI could be a little UK like they have planned in their Global Britan strategy thereby making the Caribbean people the minority so they can control the economy, political arena and all over. Next, he is pushing to give the police unlimited powers thereby taking away our rights and freedoms as the UK lead police force will mostly target our people and not his kind. He has no respect for our House of Assembly as he is saying what he put in the Bill must pass no matter what the people of the BVI’s input is and their views. Note everything under his leadership is failing but no one can look into him. BVI PEOPLE STAY WAKE!!!
well actually he can force it if he wants to beacuse of the back handed deals and corruption of our government ministers, so dont think that he can’t
Fed up now…One 1, two 2 , tree 3, Fo 4, Rankin needs to GO, Be gone. Como manana
Yes on both counts if certain criteria are satisfied
Governor, do wh at needs to be done and what you must do.The BVI is under siege by its own and drastic measure is warranted, You are experienced and knowledgeable in War such as this, Do that needs to be done,
There are 5 main roads and 4 locations these people are using for their escape routes. Why don’t you get your officers to conduct aggressive stop and search?
The BVI continues to be full of ignorance and arrogance. That is why we have so much guns and drugs and no willingness of the people to do anything about it. Prayers are fine but Almighty God also have us brains to act to root out the crime and corruption. Only those who have something to hide will be against the proposed legislation, which mirrors that in many other (much safer) places. The BVI is now full of lawlessness and danger. Something must be done.
Yes, read their Act. We sat and listened to others talk nonsense and just ran with it. Read the Acts of other countries for yourself. Was the bill perfect? No. Was Slow and friends other reacting? Yes! You can’t be serious about solving our issues and not try to get these archaic laws modernized. No one has a clue what the Bar Association objected to. We only heard former Hon. Smith get up and say they had issues with the Bill. Nonsense! Let’s hear from the experts and not only hear from the Premier and his team.
Good research. Now read our provisions for yourself and see if they differ. Stop listening to others talk talk talk. Check for yourself!
Thank you for that.
We must ensure we have those rights.
We must also recognize that as any population grows, so does crime. “What ain’t your business leave it alone” worked when 10,000 BVIslanders and 1000 ex pats lived in these islands. Now we have – what? 20K Virgin Islanders and 10K expats? We must also have mechanisms in place to ensure a safe future.
At this point, the UK can take over I don’t give a hoot. If people can still pay for votes and get away with it with no shame when they talking from a platform knowing that they did not honestly win, nothing matters anymore. Frankly, this place curse itself and it deserves whatever is coming to it.
Notice what blogger Stay Awake said about what His Excellency is pushing for immediate fastforwarding:
1. Belongers status applications
(and about a 1000 came in in the last 12 months. We need to investigate the demographics and ensure that there is no hidden agenda of domination by population of a certain group or domination of voters by next election 2027),
2. Police Bill
(with DNA information and searches without a warrant which is suspicious being that comes at a time that a particular small group in 1st world countries are being targeted more than ever)
Beware of the tactics of the globalists to get their agendas in place arising from the annual meetings held at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January that are filtered down to the private and oublic sectors of the super powers (USA, EU, Canada, Austrailia) and then to institutions like World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), news media (CNN, BBC, New York Times), US Federal Reserve, Black Rock (the largest investment company in the world),to name a few. The globalists take small steps over decades or years to get their agenda done and in plain sight.
Wake up!
However, Jehovah is in control and we must pray for our elected leaders – Government and Opposition – more than ever before.
Look at what is happening to the African nation of Uganda by the USA, an ally of UK. The USA has put sanctions against Uganda and is withdrawing humanitarian aid, all because Uganda made alternative lifestyle illegal. These Powers That Be (TPTB) do not want to admit that such a lifestyle opens up the door to paedophilia, high rates of suicide, reduced population over time, the break down of the family structure and the slow eradication of positive and moral societal values for the worse. TPTB are denying the authority of Jehovah as Our Creator but has In God We Trust in the US dollar. I would not be surprised that that phrase would soon be removed from the dollar bills.
Keep praying to Jehovah my people who still acknowledges Him, in Jesus name.
This international standard story he pushing is a half truth. I’m not a lawyer but I took the time and read this new police act that the governor pushing for and I also read the police laws in the UK. Specifically on the topic of searching someone’s property without a warrant the UK has very specific situations when the police can do this. In our bill that this governor pressing for I struggle to find these exact situations defined as clearly. Basically from what I understand after reading ours is once an officer of a high enough rank has authorized it your place can be searched without a warrant. I don’t think that’s the standard.
This immunity for police while executing a warrant. Is this a international standard? Are the police in the UK protected from civil liability?
I hope that both the government and opposition have balls and skill to push back on Shabba Rankin Third Cousin on his father’s side.