Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan added the role of negotiator to his list of duties on Saturday night when he intervened in a police standoff in George Town, talking a man off the roof of a building.
However the minister, speaking with the Cayman Compass about the incident Tuesday, said he did what any “other good human being” would have done in a situation like that.
“I knew it was the right thing to do because I knew him. He is a childhood friend. I’m just happy that it ended safely without anybody severely hurt,” Bryan said in a telephone interview.
Bryan said he was happy he was able to assist the police and the 41-year-old Bodden Town man who was “distressed” at the time.
Incident started with chase
The incident occurred on Mary Street – which is in Bryan’s George Town Central constituency.
It all unfolded around around 7:45pm on Saturday, police said in a statement issued on Tuesday morning.
Officers were on foot patrol on Martin Drive, George Town, when they spotted the man who, police said, was wanted in relation to theft offences and outstanding warrants.
The man ran from the officers, who pursued him on foot to McField Lane. He allegedly resisted officers’ attempts to detain him, and threw objects at them.
He then climbed onto the roof, leading to the standoff.
Bryan said he was at home when he got a call.
“Somebody called me and told me there was some sort of incident happening… Obviously anything severe I get up right away and go try to find out what’s going on, making sure the community is safe. Once I found out what was happening and I found out who it was, I offered my assistance to the police,” Bryan said.
Bryan focused on trying to ‘end it well’
The Cayman Islands Fire Service, police said, attended the scene to assist the police officers in their efforts to negotiate the man’s safe descent from the roof.
In videos on social media, the fire engine’s ladder could be seen extended to the roof of the building to get the man down.
Bryan said the inspector on site allowed him to speak to the man.
He said he climbed onto a wall near where the man was and they had a chat, after which he agreed to come down.
“The event successfully ended without any severe injuries or anything else,” he said.
Bryan said there were some tense moments during the process, as he knew that things could go sideways.
“I wanted to make sure that he didn’t do anything wrong to either cause the police to react in the wrong way or for him to react in a wrong way that might cause injury. Somebody was in trouble… I’m just happy that I was able to assist in a positive way so it could end positively,” he said.
He said there was not really much else to think about at the time other than to try “to end it well”.
“That’s all I was focused on,” he said.
Bryan said, looking back at the incident, he wanted the community to remember that that “no matter how bad it gets, we’re all in this together”.
“If we continue to appreciate and support each other, when things are hard and people can understand and get through it, it may never have to get to a situation such as the other night,” Bryan said.
The incident ended around 9pm with the 41-year-old Bodden Town man being arrested.
The RCIPS, commenting on the incident, said they were grateful for assistance in resolving the situation.
“As always, the RCIPS’ focus is on working with our communities to keep our islands safe, and this is one example of that positive collaboration,” it added.
Police also added that in situations such as Saturday’s incident “where persons are posing a potential danger to themselves or others, and refusing to comply with officers’ instructions, we have a number of trained negotiators on staff, who specialize in resolving such situations safely”.
Two RCIPS negotiators, police said, were present on the scene during this incident and conducted the initial negotiations with the wanted man.
An officer, prior to the standoff, received minor injuries. That officer attended hospital for treatment and was subsequently discharged.
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