Archive for February 11th, 2009

Senior police officer begs drivers to slow down

(CNS): With one driver having been caught doing almost 70mph in a 30mph zone in North Side, and given the islands’ track record on serious road accidents, Area Commander for the Eastern Districts, Chief Inspector Richard Barrow, is begging drivers to slow down. He said over the last week officers have detected 46 traffic offences, most of which were speeding. Making an impassioned plea to the public to slow down on the roads, he said speeding was the  most common offence witnessed by his officers and was of a serious concern.

“Throughout Bodden Town, East End and North Side speeding vehicles continue to be a problem,” Barrow added. “In one case we caught a vehicle doing 67mph in a 30mph zone in North Side. This is a hugely excessive speed which put the driver and the public at risk.”

He explained that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) works hard to promote road safety and encourage responsible driving practices. Talksare carried out in schools by Neighborhood Police Officers. In addition, the StreetSkills committee, which is made up of the RCIPS, the National Roads Authority and the Cayman Islands Road Safety Advisory Council, also  targets drivers through publicity and advertising, and police officers conduct enforcement on the roads.

“We all have a responsibility to make sure we keep the roads as safe as possible,” Barrow added.“When you get behind the wheel, think about your actions. Speeding generally does not get you where you want to go any quicker than sticking to the speed limit anyway. It’s just dangerous and irresponsible.”

Barrow also called on the community to look out for each other on the road. “If one of your friends or relatives is driving badly or taking risks on the road, talk to them. It’s much better to address the problem now than see them end up in a car crash,” he said.

Anyone who would like to support the StreetSkills is asked to contact Deborah Denis on deborah.denis@gov.ky or 244-3004.

Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.

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Long wait for Children’s Law

(CNS): The chairman of a non-profit organisation that raises funds for the victims of child abuse has voiced his support for the proposed amendments to the Children’s Law to implement mandatory reporting of child abuse in the Cayman Islands, as well as the enactment of the law itself. In a general letter to the media on behalf of Hedge Funds Care Cayman, Peter Cockhill (left) says the amendment will only be effective if the Children’s Law is actually implemented and should be a priority. Cockhill says of the Children’s Law, which has still has not been enacted despite a bill being passed in 1994, “The time is now.”

The law will be a powerful tool for the protection of children, he notes. “There are many challenges facing Cayman and much important and worthwhile legislation that is competing for the time and attention of Cayman’s elected representatives. The Children’s Law should be a priority, however, as providing protection for the most vulnerable members of our society is both a moral imperative and an essential safeguard for Cayman’s future.”

Cockhill notes that two years ago, as part of its annual grant-making phase, Hedge Funds Care brought together in a forum, representatives from every agency in Cayman dealing with child care and protection to discuss child abuse and neglect. “It was encouraging to witness the high level of passion and determination to care and protect vulnerable children, but it was also depressing and frustrating to hear many stories of persons not reporting abuse because of their concern as to potential professional and social repercussions of so doing. The proposed amendment would make it a legal requirement to report suspected child abuse (with an assurance of confidentiality).”

In a letter to The Caymanian Compass, dated 13 January 2009, Mary J. Lawrence bemoans the 14 years since the bill was passed and signed into the law, but not enacted or put into force, awaiting the draft of the necessary regulations.

“And there the matter ended,” Lawrence writes. “In 2002, while serving as a consultant to the minister responsible for Family Services, Dr Frank McField, I drew the matter to his attention, pointing out the dire need for such legislation by the courts. However, in its original form, the law was totally unworkable, placing, as it did, the onus for its implementation on the grand court instead of the summary courts where justices of the peace could be usedto implement it.”

She continues, “Thus, in view of the many amendments needed to make the legislation workable, the decision was taken to draft a new law, which again was taken to Parliament, passed, signed by the governor, and put on a shelf to await the drafting of regulations, which are necessary for its implementation.

“Fourteen long years have gone by since we started on this journey; years in which the programmes and facilities demanded by the law are still to come; years in which a whole generation has grown up and moved on; years in which we have breached the convention again and again; years in which successive governments have come and gone – and still we wait! Even now, if we manage to complete all the necessary legal steps for its implementation, there is still the vigorous training programme which all stakeholders must undergo, for this, too, awaits the regulations.”

Lawrence goes further and suggests the rights of children should be enshrined in the proposed bill of rights for the new constitution. “I do not believe these should be left to the whims and fancies of any political directorate. Until this is done, successive governments, and in turn, society, will continue to ignore the rights of this most vulnerable, and yet most valuable, sector of our society – the young child.”

Cockhill concludes in his letter, “We wait in eager anticipation for the Children’s Law, with the proposed amendment, to be brought into effect in 2009. Passing this important legislation rather than deferring it to a successor administration, would be an effective way for Cayman’s elected representatives to demonstrate their commitment to present andfuture generations of Cayman’s children.”

Hedge Funds Care Cayman is a not-for-profit organisation that is comprised of professionals in the hedge fund industry who are committed to raising funds for projects designed to treat the victims of child abuse and neglect. The NGO has raised over $950,000 in the past four years that has supported essential care and support along with public awareness campaigns for key providers of child services, including, amongst others the following: the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, the Nadine Andreas Foster Home (NCVO), the Ministry of Education, the Department of Children and Family Services, the CAYS Foundation and the Human Rights Commission.

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Smith backs Bridger as new investigation unfolds

(CNS): Investigations into allegations of corruption within the RCIPS are now entering a second phase,  which may still be headed by SIO Martin Bridger. Meanwhile the separate and ongoing investigaiton, Operation Tempura will continue looking into the alleged unlawful entry into Net News with Bridger at the helm. Despite criticisms of the UK cop from a leading judge, Cabinet and the wider community, the Acting Commissioner said Bridger was an experienced professional officer who had done some very good work.

Following his briefing of Cabinet and Members of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday regarding a new highly confidential report containing sensitive information that has been compiled by Bridger’s Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT), Acting Police Commissioner James Smith told the media that the investigation was about to move to a new phase.

This investigation would be based on the alllegations made against a small number of police officers in the report, which Smith described as entirely unsubstantiated, but he was now looking at how this next phase should be conducted. He said that every report that had been made by members of the community would be examined and he would report back to the peoplewho had come forward and say whether their complaints would be investigated further or why they would not.

The Acting Commissioner said the second phase would be named Operation Cealt (Smith said this is a Gaelic word for justice, however, according to Wiktionary the word  ceart means accurate and correct and ceartas means justice. There were no results for cealt in any on-line disctionaries or Gaelic sites.)

Its primary goal would be to put to bed suspicions and allegations about corruption in the RCIPS once and for all. He  stressed that it concerned only a very small number of people but the allegations were of a criminal nature.  

He said another concern raised by those that had come forward was that the RCIPS did not always handle confidential information very well,and one of his first jobs would be to examine the intelligence unit and put systems in place to protect confidential material and those who come forward.

Smith explained that there were a number of things for him to consider now about the way forward, not least who would head up the investigation.

“I need to consider a whole host of things,” he said. "Primary in that is ensuring I have the right people with the right skills in place." He added that the investigation would need to be headed by someone with the appropriate knowledge and skills to do it and the experience to lead a major investigation. The acting commissioner said that he was exploring possibilities in other jurisdictions where corruption investigations had taken place, such as Western Australia.

“Because of the nature of some of the allegations it is necessary to keep it separate from mainstream RCIPS work,” he added, explaining that an outside team would not necessarily completely exclude his own staff. He said RCIPS staff would support any team that would deal with Operation Cealt.

“This investigation is in response to community concerns and allegations that have been made over several months,” he said and added that they have been laboriously poured over and distilled down and there was now a pressing a need to get to the bottom of the allegations, some of which he believed had been heard in the community for a long time.

Although Smith said he would make the final decision about who would eventually head up the second phase of the investigation into these serious allegations, Bridger could well be that person. However, he would remain on island regardless since at the very least he would follow through with Operation Tempura.

When questioned about the criticisms of Bridger and the impact of the Henderson case, Smith vigorously defended the former Met cop but also said that the Henderson case had made a significant impact on him. “No one should pretend there is not an impact on everyone involved, not least Martin Bridger,” he said.

“Martin Bridger and his team have done some extremely good work on this island. Mistakes have been made and if I punished everybody who made a mistake by getting rid of them I’d have no one left,” Smith added. He said he was not minimising the gravity of the outcome of the Henderson case but he would not leap to punish people because of that. Despite Cresswell’s damning decision, he said that he had apologised and the team would learn from it.

Regarding the comments made by elected Cabinet officials and their decision not to support any investigation headed by Bridger, he said Cabinet members were entitled to say what they wanted but neither politicians nor anyone else should not be allowed to interfere with the work of a police officer.

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