Cayman Islands police may be able within the next year to perform searches for illegal firearms in homes and vehicles without first obtaining a warrant.
Government is expected to propose an amendment to the Firearms Law that would ‘enable the police to exercise powers of search and entry without warrant in order to locate firearms or bullet proof vests’, according to the Annual Plan and Estimates for the 2007-08 budget year.
Royal Cayman Islands Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan said for police officers on scene of a potential firearms incident, time is critical.
‘If we get information that somebody’s in illegal possession of a firearm, then we need to act quickly,’ Mr. Kernohan said. ‘But we need to act professionally and within the terms of the law.’
Mr. Kernohan said officers would only search or force entry into a car or home without a court-issued warrant if there was reasonable suspicion, a test he said varies on a case-by-case basis.
RCIPS officers already have the same ability under Cayman Islands law to perform warrant-less searches for illegal drugs. The reasonable suspicion test also applies in those cases.
‘Seeing something through a window is more than reasonable suspicion, it’s more than enough,’ Mr. Kernohan said. ‘But if there were somebody, for instance, that came out of a house and said ‘officer there’s drugs lying on that table in that house there’, that would also be sufficient for reasonable suspicion as well.’
However, unlike illegal drugs such as ganja and cocaine, it is possible for island residents to own guns and keep them in their homes under the terms of a Firearm User’s (restricted) Licence.
Generally, residents are not allowed to own a bullet-proof vest unless they have prior written approval from the police commissioner.
Mr. Kernohan said there are two issues police are concerned with, the first being the illegal possession of a firearm. He said there are also concerns about whether gun owners adhere to the terms of their firearms licence.
‘For instance, if you were legally entitled to have a shotgun, you would have to keep that shotgun under secure conditions in terms of the (firearms) certificate that you have,’ he said. ‘It (could be) outside the terms of your certification, although it wouldn’t necessarily be considered illegal possession of a firearm.’
A final draft of the proposed amendment to the Firearms Law has not been presented to the Legislative Assembly.
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