Facing the likelihood of gang activity ramping up again on Grand Cayman in the form of tit-for-tat shootings, local police said Friday they would decline to use certain unsavoury tactics in bringing criminal offenders to justice.
“Some people seem to sort of think that we can go out and start interrogating people or hammering confessions out of people,” said Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Chief Superintendent John Jones. “I’m sorry, but there is a bill of rights that’s been drafted for the Cayman Islands that we have to adhere to.
“We are not, thankfully, some kind of Banana Republic where we just pluck people off the streets, stick them in a dungeon, and never to be seen again.
“I know there are many people that would like to see that. But we observe the law, and if we don’t observe the law we may as well pack up and go home.”
In 2010, following a string a gang-related shootings that mainly occurred in the West Bay district, RCIPS arrested a number of people based on information from individuals that came forward about the crimes.
Mr. Jones said it was crucial to local police work that this should happen again.
“We enjoyed peace within West Bay for a period of over a year,” he said. “We want to see that peace restored.”
However, a number of cases that have since been brought to court – including several murders – have ended in not guilty verdicts following judge alone trials, mainly due to insufficient evidence.
Mr. Jones said that’s the way the criminal justice system works and police would continue to respect it.
“We do the best with the evidence that is presented to us,” he said. “At the end of the day, if that’s not sufficient to satisfy the court as long as we, the police, have done our best then we have to let it be.
“But let’s not give up.”
One of the major issues troubling police in these types of court cases is that those witnessing criminal acts by suspected gang members also have gang affiliations themselves, Mr. Jones said. Such affiliations will affect a judge or jury’s view of their credibility.
“We can’t tell the court that ‘sorry, these people haven’t got gang affiliations’, and then you find that when these people are cross examined in court, there’s great play made on that fact,” he said. “We cannot choose our witnesses. We will do our utmost to present the strongest case we can.
“It’s immensely frustrating for us because we get good intelligence in many cases to say that certain people are involved, but that intelligence won’t stand up in court.”
RCIPS Superintendent Marlon Bodden, who is in charge of the police criminal investigation department, said quite often, the very same people who are complaining about local police “not doing anything” in criminal cases are the same people who won’t assist officers in those cases.
Mr. Bodden said that type of indifference or failure to participate in the justice system is causing great damage to the Cayman Islands community.
“These matters are actually causing reputational damages to the Island,” he said. “If we’re going to sit here and think ‘you know, these incidents are just going to happen’ and categorise it and say ‘well there’s only a certain group of people involved’ that’s not a good way to think.
“We have a very fragile tourist environment, and we’ve got to try to preserve that. People are complaining about not having any jobs … you’ve got to bear in mind that crime is something that will definitely have a direct effect as it relates to people opening businesses and wanting to invest in the Islands. Think about that.”
“Don’t be squealing in the various interviews about ‘what are the police doing’? What are you doing if you possess this kind of information?”
Mr. Jones also said police are just one part of the solution to restoring Cayman’s safety. He said it was crucial for others to look into the “root causes” of crime.
“What is bringing about the disintegration of sane society and there have got to be social interventions,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re sowing the seeds for future problems.”
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