A move to amend the law to allow the Office of the Complaints Commissioner to investigate the police is under consideration.
Lawmakers agreed on Thursday to consider widening the scope of the position to cover complaints against the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
At the moment, the police handle some complaints internally, but they have been unable to investigate others because a civilian oversight body has not been formed, in compliance with the Police Law introduced in 2010.
George Town legislator Ellio Solomon brought a private members motion to the Legislative Assembly last week in an attempt to bring police complaints under the auspices of the complaints commissioner.
He said police should be subject to the same independent investigation process that government bodies face when complaints are made. Fellow lawmakers supported the motion and government will now consider making the necessary changes.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson said the governor’s office had been trying to find a better formula for handling police complaints since 2010.
“We accepted the current way of dealing with complaints against the police needed to be changed,” Mr. Manderson said during last Thursday’s debate.
“We should not have the police investigating themselves.”
He said a previous effort to set up a public complaints authority, in accordance with the 2010 law, had been scrapped because it was not economically feasible. Mr. Manderson insisted different models for handling police complaints were still being considered.
He argued that a system that included civilian oversight would be the best formula, but agreed to consider having the complaints commissioner handle allegations of misconduct or maladministration within the police force.
“We have done quite a bit of work in this area and while we take the view that there should be a civilian oversight body we are certainly happy to accept the motion put forward,” he said.
Earlier, Mr. Solomon had argued that the change was necessary to ensure confidence in the police force.
“What is good for the goose is good for the gander,” he said. “Arguably the only departments that can’t be investigated by the complaints commissioner’s office are those that are direct instruments of the UK government.
“We want a level playing field and proper investigation for RCIPS,” he added. “We have the expertise and there is no reason, there is no excuse. Let us work to secure the finances to ensure it can happen.”
Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams previously worked on the former UK Police Complaints Authority. She has expressed concern in the past about the way police complaints are handled in the Cayman Islands, warning that an independent body is needed to remove the appearance of bias.
In October last year, after Mr. Solomon had filed the motion with the assembly, she said her office could do the work, if it was properly funded.
“Do I think my office can take it? I have always said from late 2009 … that it was something that we would consider doing, if, and only if, we are properly resourced,” she said. “This work … is very different than the kind of complaints OCC is currently set up to deal with.”
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