Police can order groups to ‘disperse’

Broad new powers to force groups of people to leave certain areas for specific periods of time will be granted to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, if amendments to the Cayman Islands Penal Code are approved by lawmakers.  

The amended legislation – made public Monday – would also redefine gang membership and generally make it easier for police to prove an individual’s membership in such a group before a court. There has never been a successful prosecution under Cayman’s current anti-gang legislation since its introduction.  

Changes allowing police to disperse groups from certain areas require a police officer at the rank of inspector or above to issue an order in an area where he or she has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that anti-social behaviour is a “significant and persistent problem”.  

This could occur if anyone has been intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed as a result of the behaviour of two or more people in the area; or if “the presence or behaviour of a group of two or more persons in any public place … has resulted, or is likely to result, in any members of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed”.  

A dispersal order from the police inspector can include directions requiring individuals to leave the designated area – either immediately or during such times police state they should leave. The order can also prohibit certain individuals from gathering in an area not their residence for a certain period of time.  

Orders given by a police inspector cannot last for more than two weeks at a time, but they can be extended following consultation with higher-ranking officers. Also, a police superintendent must be notified about a dispersal order being given as soon as possible.  

Lawful public processions or demonstrations are not allowed to be dispersed by police under the proposed amendments to the Penal Code.  

Merseyside Chief Constable Jon Murphy, who recently came to Cayman on a consulting contract to assist local police with gang troubles, noted Cayman does not have laws allowing police to set “low-level conditions” on suspected gang members to control where they congregate and who they associate with.  

“When you get situations such as you’ve had recently in Cayman … those powers that give the ability to intervene for relatively low levels of criminality, if you like, can be useful in preventing crime,” Mr. Murphy said.  

A group of officers from the northwest of England is still here, helping local police in an investigation of a series of gang-related killings in September. During a nine-day period, five young men between the ages of 18 and 28 were shot to death and a sixth young man was injured by gunfire. 

Orders given by an inspector to disperse are required to be made in writing and to specify the area affected and the reasons why the order is being made. The dispersal orders’ authorisation are also required to be published in a newspaper and posted in a conspicuous public place in the area where the order is given.  

An order given by a police inspector requiring immediate dispersal from an area can be given orally and can be given to a specific person or a group of people together, according to the bill.  

Anyone refusing to comply with the order can be arrested, without a warrant, if the arresting officer “reasonably suspects” they have ignored the dispersal order. Anyone found guilty of violating a dispersal order can be fined up to $3,000 and jailed up to four years upon conviction, according to the text of the amended Penal Code.  

Lawmakers could take up the bill as early as 16 November, when the legislature is set to resume.  

Identification  

The new section of the Penal Code dealing with dispersal orders will also, if it is approved, allow police to stop anyone in a public place to require that a person to remove any item police “reasonably suspect” is being worn to conceal the person’s identity.  

The police officer can seize the item he or she believes is being used to conceal identity and can use “reasonable force” to effect the removal where needed, according to the bill.  

Failure to follow police orders in such a situation can also lead to a four year prison sentence upon conviction.  

The dispersal section of the Penal Code also deals with juveniles [under age 17] who are in a public area at night and not under “the effective control of a parent or a responsible person aged 18 or over”.  

In such a case, the police officer can remove the juvenile to their family’s home, unless the officer believes the person would suffer significant harm if they were removed to their home.