A Royal Cayman Islands Police Service officer was hospitalised after emergency surgery overnight Saturday with a serious head injury, police officials confirmed some 10 hours after the initial incident.
According to police, the officer – part of an armed patrol team monitoring what was described as a “disturbance” involving a large crowd in East End – was struck by an object to the head around 1.45am Saturday.
According to reports received by the Caymanian Compass, the officer was struck in the head with a rock during an altercation at an East End bar.
The officer was brought to the hospital unconscious with a skull fracture, according to medical personnel. He remained hospitalised Saturday morning.
Police had been called to the scene near the Pirates Cove bar a few hours earlier, having received reports of tyres being burned and illegal drug use in the area.
Police officers said a party was in progress at the location, with more than 100 people in attendance. Officers checked out the situation, then returned to their patrol car only to find their front tyres had been punctured.
Armed officers were deployed to the scene and it was in the same general area where the armed patrolman was struck in the head.
Police are investigating the incident, but no arrests were immediately reported. Anyone with information is asked to call the Bodden Town police station at 947-2220 or Crime Stoppers at 800-8477.
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Commissioner Bains , close the bar down till someone points their finger at the culprit. Without their rum and dominos someone will talk.
This is very sad what has happened to this officer. The public does not have any respect for the police in Cayman Islands, and the blame for this lies with the Commissioner and his whom ever else is in charge, because they tie police hands in carrying out their duties. Do you really think this would have happened in Jamaica or Trinidad or some other caribbean Island. No. Some one would pay dearly for it.
As I watch many sagas unfold in the Cayman Islands involving police, I see the disrespect, and beside this I see no support from the Head of the Police department. They are trying to run the force like they do in England. It cannot work here. Politicians and Police heads need to give support to the police more than what is happening.
Now to critize the investigating officers. I say only a fool rush in. If there are two or three of you in the police car, Why would all of you leave the police car un attended to try and break up a fight of more than three persons with a hunded heated crowd.
Get some common sence. Only fools rush in. The first thing you should have done in seeing such an event taking place was to call for assistance while taking note of all the persons you see there who were troubling. Should an officer think that he alone can break up a fight with more than three people? He is looking to get killed.
Polomol 7.40 I agree with you one hundred percent. But will the commisioner do it. The man is toosoft, we need a commisioner form one of the tough no nosence West Indies to run this place.
Make a line up and get a good search dog to smell the rock then let him loose into the line up.
Hunter, You were not present to critique the performance of the officers involved. As far as bringing in a CoP from another West Indies island, I say rubbish..the LAST thing this country needs is another leader with 18th century views on human rights and methods of investigation. Why aren’t you howling about getting someone like Kurt Walton made the CoP?? He is more than qualified..Stop thinking you have to IMPORT all you problem solvers…
I wish the officer a speedy recovery and hope he and his family do not suffer too much trauma from the incident.
Hunter…
Much of what you have to say on this incident has merit…and much of it does not.
Bad points first…Cayman is not Jamaica or Trinidad where corrupt police shoot first and ask questions later.
The RCIPS and the community of East End have had issues before of a similar nature…these East Enders do not like their parties being disturbed or harrassed by police presence..and have attacked and injured police before.
Therefore, any reports of a crowd problem in East End should be handled by the RCIPS accordingly.
There are only two ways that any police force can police any territory…through respect or fear.
The RCIPS clearly do not have the respect of the East End community; with a party that large, it signifies that a good percentage of the community was there.
Good points…
The initial police party should have never left their vehicle unattended, and…
After the armed unit had been called in, they should have been in riot gear, helmets and protective vests..
And gone in hard and fast to break up the crowd and disperse them.
It is this half-hearted approach that got their officer injured.
Another issue that will further endanger police in Cayman now is this ‘petty informing’; so tyres were being burnt and drugs allegedly being used, according to the informers, who probably had more of a grief against the party in the first place.
No one was being hurt and there was no riot.
Unless people in Cayman learn to live and let live and leave well alone sometimes…
They will have many more of their police officers injured by calling them to scenes where they are not needed.
This injury happened because people at this party felt they were being unjustly harrassed by the police, I can almost guarantee.
Like I’ve said before, this has happened in East End before.
My sympathy to the officer and I hope he has a quick recovery. I hope the police can make a quick arrest. There is a lot of talk going around and facts are getting lost. I was at the bar that night and did not see the incident happen, but there were definitely not over 100 people at the bar. Things always get exaggerated, especially where crime is involved. People just love something to talk about, and lets face it: saying there was a large disturbance at a party at a bar makes the news. The truth, that there was a much smaller patry with no fights or disturbances reported is just not exciting enough to make the news! Sad, but true. Seems like finger pointing and trying to blame others to me.
I would like to add a few words of comment to those already made on this incident that, hopefully, might provide some advice and insight for the RCIPS, if any of their intelligence officers do read this forum…and I have absolutely no doubt that they do.
While I have never been a police officer, I am as well trained and qualified in the areas of crowd control, liquor-licenced premises control…and physical intervention and conflict management as most of the RCIPS officers are…they only do a basic level training in these specialised areas; we specialise in ONLY these areas in private security.
The RCIPS needs to recognise what many other police forces in Jamaica, the USA, Canada, the UK and other countries realise…there are certain parties, concerts and gatherings in which the police WORK with the crowd…and look the other way in minor infractions of drug use, which usually involves only the smoking of a little pot…they DO NOT consider starting a riot to be worth the trouble of riling up the wrong type of crowd and starting a war with them, in which police officers WILL be injured.
Cayman’s police have never learned to NOT pay attention to petty, minor complaints made by pure trouble-makers, informers who have personal grouses…and sometimes, outright liars who use the police for their own dirty and corrupt ends.
Cayman’s police go flying in where angels fear to tread…and pay the price sometimes.
If there is trouble within a crowd, isolate, arrest and remove the troublemakers from the crowd without disturbing the rest of the crowd as much as possible.
This is how we, the specialists, work alongside Britain’s police, to control football crowds at Britain’s football stadiums, where riots can and DO take place at the drop of a hat.
If the RCIPS do not recognise that many of Cayman’s population are now feeling set-upon and beseiged, then they will continue to worsen a problem instead of looking for ways to solve it.
Leave people ALONE at their parties and sessions; they are enjoying themselves and while they are doing so, are not hurting anyone and creating major public disorder.
Major public disorder is on its way in Cayman if Cayman’s police DO NOT recognise and adjust to the times we are living in…
And there are many, many more of the public than there are of police officers.
Cayman’s police want to keep the majority of that public on their side…and not against them.
And please, unless my comments be mistakenly misinterpreted as support for this coward criminal who ‘dusted’ out this police officer with a rock…
The RCIPS should not rest until he/she is identified, caught, prosecuted and jailed.
Hopefully the injury to the officer is not life-threatening and that he will fully recover.
I doubt if it was the party that made the news, but that an officer was critically injured, and police equipment destroyed. I expect burning debris to mask pot smoking is very disturbing if your house is being flooded with toxic fumes. I would rather smell the pot odor after all it will still be mixed in with toxins people burn to mask it. We cannot ask people to report crime, and when they do call it petty, it is up to the police to determine if any response is required. An officer committed to maintaining peace in our neighborhoods is lying critically injured in the hospital, that is no exaggeration..