Off duty cops injure suspect
(CNS): An internal enquiry has been initiated by the Professional Standards Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service to assess the level of force used during an incident in which a man, who had reportedly been armed with the machete, sustained various injuries during an arrest by three off duty police officers. The suspect, who was arrested the early hours of this morning (17 June) on suspicion of threatening violence and possession of an offensive weapon, suffered a laceration to his face and a broken arm.
This morning, uniformed police officers were called to the scene involving the man and three off-duty police officers at the Red Bay Esso on Shamrock Road. The 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at approximately 1:00am from a member of the public reporting that an altercation was taking place at the gas station and that one man was armed with a machete.
On arrival police found that the man had been placed under arrest by an off duty officer. The suspect had sustained a number of injuries during the incident, for which he received medical treatment, and has now been released on police bail. Police confirmed that a machete had been recovered from the scene.
The circumstances around what happened are currently under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department and an internal enquiry has been initiated regarding the use of force. The police said that officers do find themselves in situations where the use of force is necessary and in such cases they are required to justify that use of force, showing that it was proportionate and legal, and that there was, at the time, an absolute necessity.
Anyone who witnessed what took place is asked to contact George Town Police Station on 949-4222 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.
Category: Headline News
This one is for everyone who is ragging on the police for this matter………….is any of you stopping to think what this guy was going to do with the machete? What if he had injured someone one of your loved ones? The the arugement would have been "Where were the police?" you people are always looking for someone to balme. I am gld the police beat the f*&^ out of him……it might haved saved a life!
People, imagine if all of these cops had guns? What would happen to us all if guns were legal here in Cayman? These cops are all bullies and they know it! Once you have that kind of power they feel they are on top of the world. The way they treat our young men in public is a SHAME and DISGRACE! RESPECT is due even to a DOG officers remember that! I do feel those cops should be suspended and this matter investigated further.
"…(and in a technical sense he was unarmed)…"
I suppose technically so was the guy in the East End who killed the poor girl with a machete.
I wonder if you would say "Wow, I’m sure glad thig guy is not armed", if he were chopping you up with a machete at the time?
Would you?
Sheer rocket science… simply amazing.
"Couldn’t they have knocked that weapon out of his hands with their batons or even a piece of wood? "
And risk maybe breaking his arm??? The manure would really hit the rotating air handling device then!
How I see it it was five officers to one man brandishing a machete. Couldn’t they have knocked that weapon out of his hands with their batons or even a piece of wood? Look officers are trained to handle these situations and to disarm a person even with a gun. Our RCIP spends thousands of dollars a year on officer enhancement training and a lot of this training is done overseas, so tell me why was it necessary to take such force of which you are trained to handle properly without bringing additional harm to any party including self?
Plain andutterly this was excessive force by the police (5-1) and they could have handled it differently.
For those who doubt me, yes I saw the camera footage and there also appeared to have been some taunting by the off duty officers as well.
CNS: believe me from what I saw on that video the RCIP used above and beyond excessive force!! They need to suspend those officers without pay until this matter is fully investigated, as I certainly don’t want to continue paying them for what I saw. This would set a precedent for those who may consider taking the same action. These officers were all trained to handle these situations with no life lost.
HELLO… it was at the Red Bay Esso… don’t they have cameras there?
Encourage one another and build each other up!
What must be terribly hard for our hard working police officers is the "attitude" they recieve from locals when doing a very hard, underpaid and dangerous job. Dr. McField’s outrageous and criminal behaviour was a good example of what the police have to face every day. If people in offices are tired of the "don’t you know who my father is" or "I will have you thrown off the island" mentality of the less impressive members of this fine community, it is nothing, nothing, compared to the abuse give by the young of this island to the police, a youth emboldened by their atrocious culture of entitlement.
"Dear ‘Richard Wadd, I know that you’: perhaps YOU would like to give a first-hand demonstartion to us all, on HOW to disarm a crazed, machete weilding attacker without using force?"
I am not Richard Wadd, but I know how most law enforcement officers in the off-island world would disarm a machete wielding criminal: one deploys a 40 calibre Glock with 2 in the chest and 1 in the head, followed by a stern command of "Freeze!". It’s not pretty, but that is what you would expect in the real world. The fact that the police are "gentler" here is why the bad guys need to be grateful, but people just can’t get that reality.
"Dear ‘Richard Wadd, I know
…..and then what a lost of life. Do you think that this would serve any purpose to anyone if that is what would be the necessary action. Is it not in the training manual somewhere about excessive force. I certainly would not want to know that an unarmed man (and in a technical sense he was unarmed), as a machete is far easier to disarm someone of than a gun, be shot by a police officer who felt the need to get the situation under control by taking the chicken way out.
I know that many would have wanted this poor man dead for his actions, but if we give the police this kind of control lets see how out of hand it can get. For eg: do you think it is necessary for police engage chases? In this country certainly not, we are so small that everyone knows who is who, all the police has to do is to become the friends of all the citizens and then when they have earned our trust we will feed them all the information they need and in a day or two apprehend those whom they would have engaged in a chase with. Many innocent people die in these chases we see it all over the world, why should this fly speck of an island have to give to chasing people around in cars when we can easily find them when the time is right.
When the citizens have confidence in the police they will get on their phones and call in the culprits. Then we will have less crime being committed because the culprits will know that the entire community is watching them.
Shooting people is not the way to go and thankfully guns are still outlawed in this country.
The assertion that someone is "unarmed" when they are holding a machete is simple non-sense. If you don’t believe me talk to any of the Martial Arts instructors on the Island. Questioning whether the police acted properly in any given situation is fair game. It is not fair game to suggest that a man who is holding a machete is "unarmed".
CNS: Thank you for providing this Forum for the people of these Islands to express their opinions and concerns in relation to the News stories that you publish.
Some of us attempt to provide intelligent, thought provoking comments and views, others are just too dumb to be allowed the use of a computer, none-the-less, all views are welcomed.
I would like to ask, however, that when Posting the Headlines of some of these articles, that you give careful considderation to the ‘Impression’ of the Headline upon the minds of your readers, and not just seek to have an attention-grabbing Heading. Case-in-point: This Article, which leaves one with the distinct impression that this was a ‘willfull act against an innocent suspect’, and not a brave stand taken by three ‘off-duty’ cops, to restrain and ARMED individual who was posing a very Real and dangerous threat to the public.
These men are heros, and deserve to be praised for difussing a dangerous situation before anyone else got hurt or killed.
Perhaps: Off Duty Cops Dis-arm Machete-wielding mad-man.
Dear Mr. ‘Head’: You mis-understand me. My critisizm of ‘Anon’ titles is NOT about the true identity of the writer (it is obvoius to ALL that ‘Richard Wadd’ is a pen name …. most writers have one), but rather about having and using an ‘Identity’ when commenting, so that all of us are made aware of the ‘source’ of a particular comment….. ‘Anon’ is ust too common a pen name.
Dear ‘Richard Wadd, I know that you’: perhaps YOU would like to give a first-hand demonstartion to us all, on HOW to disarm a crazed, machete weilding attacker without using force? When a person is immersed in such a confrontation, I assure you that you do NOT have time to think your actions through in great detail. The aim is simple, dis-arm the attacker, but firstly preserve life and limb at ANY cost. There is a Rule of War (yes, this was a War against crime), a good Offence is the Best Defence.
FIve (the report said three), unarmed men against one ‘machete-weilding’ attacker? I’d say the odds were in the Attacker’s favour, damn lucky no one else was hurt!
Take it from someone who knows. Police brutality and abuse of power in Cayman is REAL. Maybe you won’t believe it till it happens to you or someone you love. But it’s true. I didn’t realise how bad it was until I saw it with my own eyes and experienced it myself.
If anyone has watched Frankie Flowers movie ‘Haven’ – you should know that the scene where a young male character is beaten by an English police officer is not pure fiction. It is based on fact.
But it’s not just the English – it goes across the range of nationalities on the force. Don’t even get me started on the Jamaican cops. They bring the corrupt and violent practices of their homeland with them. But really – it can be seen in all of the nationalities represented on the force, to be fair.
I personally know people who have had their ribs broken and kidneys bruised due to police brutality. Right here in Cayman. No lie.
Women and children having pepper spray turned on them. Mentally challenged indivudals being goaded and railroaded by inept cops looking for someone, anyone to hang a crime on.
I also know people who have been harrassed by police officers, who have been threatened and who have been forced to pay corrupt cops bribes to avoid being prosecuted for planted ‘evidence’.
Cops who pocket drugs and sell them. High ranking senior officers who let the crimes of informants slide.
Cops who steal the property of people who have been arrested. Phones, jewelry, even shoes!
The police abuse those who they think ‘mainstream society’ will not listen to or believe.
They have the power of the law on their side and use it to bully and threaten and scare people.
And beyond that – what about the favours and turning a blind eyefor a friend or for a woman they’d like to get to know a little better (in the carnal sense.)
I’ve seen that too. Where blatant crimes of violence and damage to property are IGNORED because the perpetrator calls a cop who is a friend or relative or lover or wannabe lover.
What about victims who are treated like criminals? What did you do to provoke this? – the police ask.
Corrupt cops who come here and are made into heroes, given status, the right to be among us, one of us, forever. Get paid a Govt salary with free health and pension, to trample on the rights of our people and brutalise the helpless?
Make a complaint you say? WHO will listen? The cops at central police station front desk who roll their eyes at you? Or the higher ups who tell you that they know their officers did nothing wrong? Or threaten to arrest you if you don’t sit down and shut up?
Due process? What is it? Where is it? Certainly not here.
And whatever happened to the "investigation" into the cops shooting at a fleeing vehicle in the middle of George Town? Are we ever going to hear about that?
Ah – the list of corrupt acts by the RCIPS is too long to list.
To all those who think police brutality is ok – wait till it happens to you or one of your loved ones.
If we allow corrupt cops to flourish – it’s only a matter of time before it happens to many more people.
RCIPS – Rotten, Corrupt, Inept, Police Service
Someone far wiser than me once said that you should judge a society by how it treats the least of its citizens. If that’s true – Cayman has hell to pay.
‘But it’s not just the English – it goes across the range of nationalities on the force. Don’t even get me started on the Jamaican cops. They bring the corrupt and violent practices of their homeland with them. But really – it can be seen in all of the nationalities represented on the force, to be fair.’
I didnt realise that there were any English Cops left in the Cayman Islands?
I thought they had all left, suspended, worn down or ended their contracts prematurely?
A few months ago there was talk of an outside Professional Standards Unit separate from the Complaints Commissioner who would be tasked with investigating only complaints against police officers. The stipulation was that whomever was in charge should have been a police officer in the past so as to completely understand all aspects of police procedure, yet not have been employed as a police officer for some years so as to not be thought to hold favoritism to serving officers….Sounded like a really good idea at the time and this would have probably had the effect of drawing more people to make complaints like the ones we are reading here in a timely manner so as to be thoroughly investigated….My question is….WHAT HAPPENED??? Was this just more political mumbo jumbo??? Another case of "tell the people what they want to hear and then forget about it"??? C’mon guys someone needs to take this bull by the horns..Yes, there ARE some corrupt cops in the RCIP…no one can argue that point and win. Yet, there are also some really fine officers in the RCIP!! However, these good officers see that there fellow cops are corrupt and nothing is done to address this corruption and they become disheartened and lose hope. The RCIP will NEVER be cleaned from the inside out….Sorry, but that is just the sad fact…It will take an outside agency to go in and root out corrupt cops and corruption….and NO, not in the way the SPIT was supposed to do….but by doing it the same way that the OCC took on the responsiblity of holding the Government to task…you have to shine the light on the bad guys and expose them for the world to see if you are going to get rid of them….Police forces the world over are notorious for "Closing Ranks" and allowing the public to see only what they want them to see…This is why it is imperitive for an "outsider" to investigate claims of abuse of power, excessive force, official corruption….etc, etc,…..As far as to what happened in this case, we will have to wait and get the "official" version from the GIS in order to know what "really" happened..Then we will all be able to rest easy knowing that is happened just like we were told….NOT!!!
Speaking of police, we really need some spelling and grammar police around here.
Richard Wadd, I agree let’s not hide behind "anon" titles. Freak.
Kind regards,
Richard Head
Richard Wadd, I know that you are a sensible person and can read the words of all the posters to this message board blog. However, as I said earlier, the Police need to weigh up the level of force they use against one person. It was 1-5!! How would you feel if that was a member of your family who had fallen into a depressed state of mind and was experiencing a temporary loss of insanity? One cannot say that this was not excessive force! Clearly from the news article it was. If there is more to the story then lets publish it and the rest of us can weigh in on our differences then.
In the interim, the RCIP are bullies. I heard of an incident just a couple of evenings ago at a property on North Sound Rd where the uniform support group of cops were called in and it was not necessary, as it was a simple rekeying of the locks of a couple of doors to take possession of a building that a tenant had no more rights to, no contract, the hold over notice had expired and the tenant owed rents in the five figure range backed up from 2008. Now you tell me if there was no disturbance of the peace then why was uniform support called in? The tenant had friends in these high places whom they called up to come and bully the Landlord and they showed up and did just that. Now an investigation is underway by the PSU, and was this all necessary to the waste tax payers money to engage in such situations that are civil and the RCIP has no business intervening into?
The RCIP officers need to get a gripe of their responsibilities to the community and to the civilians of this country, they need to forgo their personal feelings and friendship connections and do their job and not take it all personally. Can you imagine the fear they put into that Landlord to hand over the keys and allow the tenant to remain in their property as squatters, rent free because the uniform support officers acted in a forceful manner, without any jurisdiction in the matter?
Come on, give me a break here. We have a police force that is clearly out of control and hopefully this new Commissioner will deal with all of those cops who go around engaging in acts of force when it is not even within their rights to do so.
I will not give the RCIP my full support until I as a citizen of this great island nation see some major changes in attitude, policies etc within this force. There are some officers that are worth their weight in gold on this force but the majority of them are making the few good men and women look bad and get painted with the same paint brush, and honestly that is not fair to those few. If this new Commissioner feels that he needs to clean house, I can assure you the community will be behind him all the way and if that means from the Deputy to the foot cops, then so be it.
Lastly, I do not commend the actions of any criminal, and definately we cannot support or allow criminal activity to fester and bloom in our community anymore than it is now, but reading some of these postings it shows that some Police are committing criminal offenses. I would encourage more persons who have been affected by Police brutality or ciminal actions to report them every time, as this will be the onlyway the new Commissioner can weed out the corrupt acts occurring within his force.
Every citizen in this country should give their support to him (the Commissioner) and help him to make this a better community where all citizens & visitors can feel and see the support beaming from the Police whom will engage in good service and protection and uphold the laws without bullying people, squealing on witnesses, abusing their positions to help friends/family connections, be fair and impartial at all times in every situation. These are just some of the sore areas of the RCIP that needs overhauling.
The new Commissioner is going to need all of our support and lets stand behind him as a community that sincerely wants to see a change within the RCIP.
I feel that NO ONE should be in a public place with any offensive weapon. If the police didn’t feel that this man was a threat to the public they wouldn’t have acted.
If this was in the states that man would have probably been killed by one of them officers for putting up a fight with that machete. Being a Police Officer is a very dangerous job as they risk their lives and family lives to protect the people of their Country from these criminals.
I don’t care what nobody says but the Police should have broken all two of his arms in the process, what is he doing waving a machete in a public place.
That Esso station is very well know for late nite hang out after the clubs and dances, and unfortunately innocent people have been badly injured at that gas station. Those three officers did what they had to do to protect themselves.
What if that guy had chopped someone with that machete? What would be the headlines now. We have seen recenlty alot of exposed corrupt cops in RCIPS and we might know of more, but the bottom line if we don’t have someone in place to protect our people, can you image how this country would be like.
Think about it before we speak non-sense. If you are a law abiding citizen you shouldn’t have to worry about the police harassing you.
These officers have families they have to go home to at the end of the day, and if we give criminals the wrong message that Police are bullying them, they would in turn be a threat to these officers and their families.
We have to be very very careful what we say and how we say it.
God Bless these Islands we call home.
Maybe the new Complaints Commissioner is here for a reason. She used to investigate complaints against police officers, etc.
http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/1743
Maybe, just maybe the RCIP can rid themselves of the bad ones. Watch for a website that will pop up shortly for complaints against police and law breakers in general…its coming!
A man has to know his limitations? I was accosted once at a local gas station by a Steel rod/knife wielding individual who was trying to get money from me after hurricane Ivan. All these bleeding heart persons ought to experience it with your families in the car terrifying is the word that comes to mind. Fortunately for us we have a society that this assailant only gets his arm broken and cut by the offensive weapon he was carrying other places he would not be so lucky mind you. Support your local law enforcement.
RICHARD WADD FOR MLA if there is a bi election in Bodden Town I say!!!!
I totally have to agree with what Richard is saying. Back in California it would have been SUICIDE BY COP is this IDIOT was at a gas station welding a machette at Police officers or anyone else for that matter.
You Caymanians need to wake up from you soft beds and realise that you are losing your country to criminals and unless the police put FOOT TO ASS you will never get it back.
If you live a good life and stay away from trouble you should have NOTHING to say about the Police because you are not who they are after. You are not going to be bothered by them. If you do wrong then you deserve to get caught and if you have a son who is a criminal stop defending them. Let them pay the price for their crimes and hopefully better themselves before you have to go pay Churchill to bury them for you.
No Police force is perfect but that is why you as a citizen have the right to complain to their discipline department if you see them do wrong. But they are here for a job and without them this island would be like the others in other countries. Give them your support. However be fair to them and give your opinions when counted. That is why the Police have community meetings. They will listen.
As for the guy with the broken arm. They should have broke ya leg too ya fool!!!!
Nichole: The REAL Problem is that we Caymanians think we are above the Law, and it’s idiots like you who give Criminals more rights than Law abiding Citizens, and those we rely on to protect our way of life.
BRING BACK THE ‘CAT’ (-of-nine-tails), Bring back Fear and respect for the Law of our lands.
If it were me apprehending him, a broken arm would be the LEAST of his worries, I can promise you he would not be out on bail, but in a Hospital bed, if not Churchill’s.
As for the many ‘Annoymous’ writers, grow some Balls and put your name where your mouth is, that way we can identify who is worth reading, and rebut those who a just plain stupid.
Dear ‘Concerned Citizen’: tell us oh brave and wise one, how does a person safely dis-arm a machete weilding idiot? Personally, I would have done an ‘Indiana Jones’ and just shot his dumb-ass. One less idiot in these islands wouldn’t be missed, I can assure you.
Makam: Well said !!
Anon Expat: … yes, and it’s a DOCUMENTED FACT that the escalating levels of crime in the UK have a direct co-relation to the ‘broad spectrum’ of ‘Rights’ that are afforded to Criminals, for them to hide behind. That, and the exasperating amount of paperwork that needs to be processed by each officer as a result, depriving communities of active Policing !
…… oh by the way, heated arguments in a public place? That’s called ‘DISTURBING THE PEACE’!
Annoymous: … with the ‘Dirty-cop List’. Do us ALL a favour, IF what you say is true (and I am inclined to believe it is), please submit this info to the New Commish, as this will greatly reduce the time it takes to weed out the ‘chaff’ from the ‘wheat’
I hope that they whacked him in the head, maybe then they would have ‘knocked some sense into him’, and he’d thing twice about breaking the Law next time.
@ Richard….LOL!…funny and hit the nail on the head…..I think I will be reading more of this blog to get my comic stress relief
I practiced lawenforcement in the Cayman Islands for six years, left and now practicing the same job in another country. After learning lawenforcement from another prospective, I connot believe I did it for so long without a side arm knowing what youngsters carried around in their vehicles in Grand cayman. It only make sence that a sharpe-edged weapon equals firearm, any other choice in dealing with someone like this is bad officer safety practice and a disregard for my fellow officer’s welfare.
Very hard to believe the things I have read on this forum in regards to this incident. On the other hand, I still suport my brothers and sisters on the job in the RCIP; It takes allot of cojones to do this job without a firearm.
Police and thieves in the street (oh yeah)
Fighting the nation with their guns and ammunition – Junior Murvin
http://video.dainutekstai.lt/w.php?a=vFP-6WFXEbk
My girlfriend and I was driving on the bypass three months ago and we got pulled over by a RCIP officer in an unmarked white car. He claimed she was driving 45 in a 25. Absolute rubbish. He just saw two hot chicks in a car and wanted to pull us over. He proceeded to ask for our information, ( u noticed I said our), me the passenger had to hand over my ID too.
Then after taking down the information and handing us back our docs, he said he would let us off with a warning for $75. I was floored. I jumped in and said over my dead body, we were not speeding and we are not paying you as your actions are criminal in all sense. He then retreated to his car and drove off.
Didn’t get the officer’s name but he was in uniform. In my frustration I also forgot to get the plate no. off the vehicle he was driving. One thing for sure is that he had a very strong Barbadian accent.
Why I am bringing this up is just yesterday my boyfriend got pulled over and was given the same challenge, fortunately for him he only had his debit card on him because I knew he would pay. Surprise surprise no ticket was issued. I would say that is the same guy from his description of him. Right at the Lime Tree Bay intersection on the bypass.
Strange I have never heard of the Police agressively arresting any law abiding citizen.
Well done! should have broke both his arms.
"Those who live by the machete will surely die by the machete"
THIS COULD ONLY COME FOR A COP:
Strange I have never heard of the Police agressively arresting any law abiding citizen.
Well done! should have broke both his arms.
"Those who live by the machete will surely die by the machete
Don’t worry we are going to clean up this RCIP, I suppose you heard the news too, you are all under the microscope….when you can’t take the heat in your own kitchen, well get out!!
Attn: All Cops
New Commissioner in town and he is going to clean house, and build back a new one with confidence in the RCIP.
Beware all your actions going forward from this day forth you will be held accountable to and the people of the Cayman Islands will be your Judge and Jury!
Since the RCIP need the help of the community to get the job done right, it is time for all you squealing cops to move on out of the big house. You can’t get the peoples confidence if you keep squealing on them the minute they give you assistance. So if you can’t shut ur big bmouth’s and protect those who would give you their support, then take your demotion with humility and go flip burgers at burger king.
Fr: The Caymanian public who needs to have confidence reinstated in the RCIP.
Be damned if you do and be damned if you don’t. I am wondering if most of us have forgotten that a machette is alleged to have been a weapon used in the brutal murder of a young lady a few months ago also a young man who bodies were dumped along the road side to decompose.
The police are criticized if they don’t act fast enough then when they act and are effective they are criticized. Only criminals run around with machettes threatening people so why are you all condoning wrong?
Why do we have indidivuals carrying machettes 1:00am in the morning to a gas station then threatening someone. For him to walk away with a laceration to his face and a broken arm he should consider himself very lucky. In other parts of the world and very close to us he would be in the morgue with a dead on arrival tag on his toe. Cayman must be the only place where the public can dictate to police officers how to do their jobs.
As an ex-police in instances like this there are alot of thoughts that go through your mind and you have to act quickly and effectively. I commend the officers for their effective response and am happy that they could go home to their families.
I do believe we have some officers who may be bad cops but why are we criticizing the whole force. We live in a fairly safe Island and can report officers who act unprofessional why wait until something happens then come and post your grievances here.
I completely agree with Be that the circumstances make me think that the police officers acted reasonably. Make no mistake, a machete is an extremely dangerous weapon and in many jurisdictions this would end up be a situation known as "suicide by cop." There’s nothing wrong with investigating the circumstances any time a police officer has to use force in some form or fashion. Such an investigation might reveal a need for better self defense training, or it might become a learning opportunity for a police force to implement procedural changes. All that said, it’s probably safe to assume that a person carrying a machete into a convenience store at 1 in the morning isn’t there for shopping for a loaf of bread.
In this case, the officers and members of the public were unharmed and while the alleged perpetrator was seriously injured he will live to face his day in court. In my book that’s a reasonably good outcome.
Let’s just say thanks to these three brave men, who took the time from their "social evening" to still serve and protect, and that no grevious harm was placed on any member of the public. Keep up the good work, and trust that those in authority will see the need to commend you all on a job well done.
To the posters who feel that those of us are supporting violence and taking up for criminals. No one is doing that, we are simply saying that the RCIP has a way of handing situations to show themselves up as these pompous cops.
So what you are saying is that three off duty officers along with the others who arrived could not restrain this person without breaking their arm and inflicting a laceration to their face. Who knows the person could have been under the influence of medication and alcohol, or knowing some of these cops off or on duty probably harrassed the person because they do this often. Some of the RCIP cops will go out of their way to harrass a person, I was in Price Right one day and heard an off duty policeman cursing out his wife/woman, and threatening her. When I told the management about it they said that he is a police and they was not getting involved. What are we coming to a banana republic with monkey cops throwing their power around the place and to whomever and where ever they want to just because they are cops.
The RCIP police mentality needs some major overhauling before these offending cops cause this country more money with lawsuits etc. Don’t think it aint coming, more and more people are not going to stand for this treatment and they are going to sue. God forbid if they make it to the Privy Counsel we will all be covering this cost for decades to come.
Control is what is needed by these cops, not arrogance. I am imagining there must have been at the very least 5 cops on the scene including the off duty ones and between them they couldn’t restrain this persons with far less force to the point of breaking his arm. That is police brutality clear and concise. NO questions about it. They used excessive force. Imagine all the cases or situations we don’t hear about. Thanks CNS for highlighting these matters and keep them coming. The RCIP is the root of many evils in this country put them under the microscope and keep them there.
It is easy to say that the readers here are taking the side of the criminals. However we have some very brutal police officers in the force, and some without any basic manners at all. You make your car get stopped by that tall English police officer on a Friday night so see if your blood do not boil and you do not want to start teaching some manners. So stay in your comfort zone!
The police have arrested people and kept them in custody for over 90 hours without allowing them to see their family or call a lawyer. Beat them with their hands cuffed behind them and sprayed pepper spray into their face. And when the police were confronted to release the individual they released him, but not his brand new nike shoes or his brand ne pair of Jeans pants. Oh they claimed he had been arrested in his underpants and slippers.
Just stay in your comfort zone.
A POLICE OFFICER IS ALWAYS ON DUTY
He may at times have some time off or rest periods what ever we want to call it, but even if he is in his bed at night sleeping and someone pounds on his door to assist where a crime is taking place; it is his duty to get up in P. jamas or nyttie and all that and do what he has to do.
Now, I know the police will get some ass kicking for this incident, but I would suggest, before we jump to conclusions, because we do not like police. I suggest find out what took place and then BLOW THE WHISTLE.
I have visited many places in the world, and Cayman Islands is the only place I have witnessed Criminals threaten and run down police with machette, sukk dog pon them and, refuse to give name, and run them outa them yard. Sorry but I do not agree with that happening. You know something I have observed here is that most police here are very passive when dealing with Criminals in a physical way. I do not know what took place in the machette incident, but I am sure it was something fearful which cause the police to have exercised their rights in combating the Machette.
On a final note, my one fault with most police officers is they do not have good good verbal expressions with the public. You can do your job and do not have to be arogant in your command. Walk Good
I wonder if they were the same three off duty officers that I shared a plane ride with on my way back to GCMafter Braccanal that behaved in the most ridiculous manner I have ever seen law enforcement officers perform in public? Drunk, disorderly, not to mention making a MESS of VOMMIT the whole way here.
WOW! RCIP you truly have some staff!!!
I have to agree that this person with a machete probably was not cooperating with the police and was a danager to himself and the public. None of us have all the details, but I would say that it is more than likely that this person probably was asking for force to be used for his actions.
That being said, I do beleive the police (some) are extremely power hungry, as if they were always made fun of as children. I have lived in several parts of the world and I have never experienced the absolute rudeness and downright mean demeanor of the police anywhere else.
I have been driving (mind you I have never had a traffice ticket here or anywhere else), and been literally screamed at on three different occasions. It was so bad I nearly called the police station to report the police. I wasn’t pulled over any of the times, but the police would speed up to get to a roundabout, and then stop there, I would follow the flow of traffic and then they would motion me over, and yell and then leave for the next roundabout. No it wasn’t a funeral or any other procession.
I surely hope the new cheif rids the force of those who do not care for anything but the "power" of being a policeman. In addition, I do not beleive that any of these were Caymanian police, but all expats from Jamacia. Again, not a blanket statement, but simply been my experience.
Nicole, read the story, it says ‘Off-duty’ officers arrested the man. They wouldn’t be carrying pepper spray orstun guns or they’d be breaking the law themselves. Instead they went above and beyong the call of duty and decided that the situation needed to be diffused quickly before somebody was hurt/murdered so risked their own wellbeing to take the criminal down.
I think we can fairly assume that the criminal was drunk, drugged or psychotic otherwise he wouldn’t be swinging a machete around at 1 in the morning.
I too have heard occasional stories of some officers being gung ho or being plain rude to citizens, but most of the people on here with so much experience in dealing with police just gives me the idea that you should get out there and get a paying job and you wouldn’t be sat around drinking and doping all day and getting in trouble.
Decent, honest, law abiding citizens have very few dealings with the police and don’t keep seeing their cronies arrested
So we are all allowed to walk around with Machettes now? Where did this idiot think he was? In the grass piece? Suppose it was you that came face to face with some idiot with a machette at 1am ? What would you do if it turned into a confrontation? It is amazing to me that we freely stab, shoot, and beat each other down on your average Friday night, but a little broken arm and everybody starts crying like babies. come On ! get real, I dont blame the Police for one second! beat him down and teach him a lesson, we got too many wanna be gangstas here already, teach them some respect for society and thelaw. If you want to play bad man, then suffer the consequences, take the pain like a man and SHADDUP. Geez what is this place turning into ?
Come on Cayman. It would be hard, no impossible tojudge the circumstances surrounding the situation with the above report. Without speculating one cannot come to such harsh conclusions.
Is it Police brutality? or excessive force or just plain old altercation with injuries? I’ll wait to hear more.
either switch careers or get off your backside and do something about it.
Bap-Bap! 🙂 or like we say in Cayman: aang…wha a mout-ful.
Jokes aside, it truly must be a difficult decision for off-duty officers to make because truly they are never really off-duty.
LMAO…I must say this blog has given more than my fair share of laughs for the day……espcially the idiots that are taking the side of the criminal…..it really looks like sad times when persons in socity start taking up for the criminal…WAKE UP PEOPLE OF CAYMAN!
I wonder how the persons making all these negative comments against the RCIPS would react or how they would expect the RCIP to react in this situation, if it involved one of their family members or a friend??
I remember a few months ago a police officer had his collar bone broke or fractured by a person they were trying to arrest off Palm Dale on Crewe Road!!! How should that case be dealt with? The members of the public need to put their brains in gear, before posting certain comments on this news service!!!
"A few Rodney King lawsuits will slow these bullies at the RCIP down. Get your video cameras and cell phones out and try to help control these types of beating."
Let me guess – you are starting the "civil rights for machette maniacs" movement. Good luck with that.
Here we go with these robo cops again! We really have too much of these trigger-happy guys in the force nowadays and from what I have seen, it’s getting worse. A prime example……an officer parked a marked patrol car in the exit of my apartment’s parking lot some weeks agoin order to carry out speeding checks. I don’t know how much driving skills he has but obviously the car was parked badly and it was diffcult for me to pass as I drive a big vehicle. So I simply rolled down my window and politely told the officer that there was insufficient space for me drive by and would he kindly reverse the police car to let me by. He flat out refused!!!! He insisted that there was enough space and after I repeated my request he had the audacity to tell me that I can’t drive properly. Well, excuse me, Mr. Bad Parking!! Being the outspoken Caymaian that I am, I got out of my car and told this officer that if he would not allow proper passage out of private property I would be calling the police station to ask for assistance. Well, after he huffed and puffed, became extremely irate and demanded that I go on about my business, his next reponse to me was that I was obstructing him in the line of duty and if I didn’t refrain from addressing him I would be arrested for disorderly conduct. My! My! Disorderly conduct for wanting to get out of my parking lot to get to work?? Come on, guys! Why all the agression? Can’t we all just get along?
I can concur with this incident I was a witness to this same situation that day. He was blocking the driveway and only a mini cooper could possibly squeeze through. He had a bad attitude and he was a Jamaican cop. I don’t think he wanted to be there that morning doing that so he was outright rude about it. I even heard him swearing about the person when they were leaving. He was just plain downright rude and unprofessional. I have to wonder about some of the cops they import into this country to do this job. They must have dug them out of the gutters of the countries they got them from.
A friend of mine once started investigating the backgrounds of the cops coming into the country and found that the majority of the ones from other caribbean islands were thrown of the force in their country and were umemployed. Some had even fabricated their credentials. When they were caught doing this investigation whilst on the job at the RCIP they were immediately terminated from their job and all th evidence of these robo cops were taken from them. They were warned never to release this information to anyone or they would have consequences to pay along with their family as well. I got the news from them about this situation months after they left the force, and I have kept it quiet until now, because they have left the country to move overseas with their two children to go to school and have a piece of mind.
I got the names of the officers, and whola they are all still in the RCIP employ some are regular robo cops and others are uniform support cops. Now you tell me what are we coming to that we have to promote the rejects of other caribbean island police depts in our country. I am counting on this new Commissioner like the rest of this country to have the balls of steel to rid the force of these robo cops and their brutal mentality and evil ways. Check the backgrounds of each and everyone of them that even has a much as a speck of dirt on them clear the out of the force. Better to start over with few and add to your clean house some new and improved cops than to hold onto them that will bring you to shame and disgrace as is the case now with all the corruption festering and oozing from the RCIP. Oh, and don’t have any mercy on any of the status holders or Caymanians cops who have dust on them too, get rid of ALL. If they don’t shine like a brand new penny throw them out too.
I know change is coming with this new Commissioner and I can taste it in the air. The culprit cops who go around tarnishing the image of the RCIP better beware, him white, smart and takes no bull , and his name is David, and you know what David did to to Goliath? I rest my case.
Simple rules of dealing with law enforcement:
1. When they say "get in the car", get in the car. If you refuse, they will not let you go or try to talk you into it. They will put you in the car. That is their job. Stop squawking about it. If the arrest is not lawful, let your lawyer sort it out.
2. When they are trying to apprehend you and say "put down the machette [or any other lethal weapon]", your 2 main choices are comply or be shot. If you are stupid enough to refuse to comply willingly, and they are feeling generous, they may offer a third option and try to disarm you manually. If you live through this experience, say thank you to the nice orfficer for not killing you, which he probably should have instead of risking his own life to try to salgave yours. Personally, since using pepper spray means being close enough to get kiiled by the machette, I’d just shoot you. My family likes it when I come home intact, and I try to comply.
3. Resisting arrest is not a civil right, it is a crime. Try it with a lethal weapon, get ready to be shot.
4. Drunk? Tough. If you can’t handle your liquor, don’t drink and play with weapons, or better yet go to AA and grow up.
I find it quiet astounding how people are jumping to the side of the ARMED person. To reiterate what the article says, "OFF DUTY" police officers, which could very well mean that they had no kind of weapon (no pepper spray, gun, baton)
I applaud these officers because this news article could have very easily been titled something more drastic and along the lines of …"person seriously injured in machete attack"
The truth of the matter is that Caymanian people are never satisfied, the police either aren’t doing enough or they are doing too much that you don’t agree with. In the end they are only humans and if you feel like you can be such an improvement to the force then either switch careers or get off your backside and do something about it.
A few Rodney King lawsuits will slow these bullies at the RCIP down.
Get your video cameras and cell phones out and try to help control these types of beating.
I don’t applaud or condemn anyone for this yet as the facts are not known to us, and until they are, I don’t see anyone is in a position to judge whether the police were heavy handed or not purely on the basis of a few words in a news article, or hearsay, or speculation from others.
But putting this incident aside, what I can say (as an outsider looking in), I have seen much controversial action by the police in this country, particularly in BT where I used to live. I have seen them picking on local boys over and over, stopping and searching or harrassing them for no apparent reason whatsoever. I witnessed on several occasions what can only be described as police harrassment (In England "Police Harrassment" entitles the victim to prosecute them). All too often I seethem interfering in matters where they are not required or called for and getting involved in domestic disputes that don’t warrant action. I have actually seen them arrest one young man for simply having an argument with someone on the street. No weapons were evident, no threats of voilence were made, just a simple disagreement, yet the police just waded in heavy-handed and roughly dragged the poor youth off to the cells. I also know this youth was subsequently sent to court , was charged and received a hefty fine for this… talk about wasting police and court time when other (real) crimes appear to be going unpunished. I have actually seen on duty police officers parking up (in a police vehicle) in the bush and making out in West Bay too! I have also witnessed police standing by and doing nothing when clearly they should be getting involved – almost as if they don’t know their duties and/or boundaries at all.
Hell, in my first month here, when I was living in GT, a young man was harrassing me on the street as I tried to walk home from town, trying to force unwanted (sexual) attention on me. We were arguing as I tried to push off his unwanted advances. Two police officers pulled up in their car and accused me of having sexual intercourse with him right there on the street! After telling them that they were actually very, very wrong and about the unwanted advances, they showed no interest in assisting me at all and drove off? So you see, whilst I don’t doubt that there are some good police officers on this island, from my own personal experiences and observations, I would say that those good police officers are very much in the minority.
I’m not saying our police are all bad, I know we have many good officers, but clearly boundaries need to be drawn to enable them to work more efficiently. In England there’s something that addresses all of this: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the PACE Codes of Practice provide the core framework of police powers and safeguards around stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees.
PACE sets out to strike the right balance between the powers of the police and the rights and freedoms of the public. Maintaining that balance is a key element of PACE and as I see it, it’s desperately needed here.
If this criminal is walking the streets with a machete then he is clearly intent on causing somebody a lot of harm, so I have little sympathy that cops had to beat him down. Obviously if he’s swinging a machete they have to make a fast decision to strike without giving him time to swing it at them.
They are not going to be able to discuss it gently over a nice cup of earl grey tea, they are going to have to disarm him fast and this is inevitably going to mean a reasonable level of force. Obviously if the suspect is playing up they need to get him on the ground hence the lacerations and possibly if he’s not letting go of the weapon or yielding to the police they would have to twist his arm until he did.
Only the criminal and his friends or family are going to argue this one.
Anybody threatening others with a weapon (especially a machete which can inflict massive and easily fatal damage) should be prepared to pay for their actions. Simple as that. As long as the reported offence was true and accurate then the level of force seems reasonable.
The police are always using unnecessary force. I have seen it first hand on a few occasssions.
The most recent was two weeks ago on Bodden Road when EIGHT (8) police officers attempted to arrest a young lady. They literally picked her up by her hands and feet and proceeded to fling her into the closest squad car.
The young lady was obviously putting up a fight for what she must have considered a minor offense to be so brutalized for.
People at the scene were also trying to illicit sympathy from the police to handle the situation better but to no avail…a few of the bystanders were even threatened with arrest if they did not and I quote ‘mind their own business’.
For grown men to handle a female like that, it’s a shameespecially since they are put in place to ‘protect and serve’.
I know that when the public does start lashing out at the police and defending their rights I hope the police are fully aware that it was inevitable.
You can’t treat and handle people like garbage and then turn around and expect them to respect the police.
Some of these officers feel like they are above the law and that they should not have to answer to anyone which is absurd and very dangerous. I’ve seen corrupt cops at work, the ones who will let their friends get away with whatever injustice they deem fit but yet are so eager to arrest the average person using as much force as they feel like over the tiniest infraction.
If I have to choose between picking up the phone and calling the police to only suffer further indignity and embarrassment I would venture to say this but I’d probably be better off taking my chances with the criminals.
In reply to "The Police are always using"
As usual you along with other bigoted people automatically assume the Police were at fault. The type of person you are is proven by your remarks…
‘I have seen it first hand on a few occasions" obviously you are frequently present when the Police have been called, which usually is when there is trouble. This to me shows that you are the type of person who associates with or are one of those people who get involved in illegal situations!
"The young lady was obvioudsly putting up a fight for what she considered a minor offense". You admit she was resisting arrest, and yet what did you expect the Officers to do, she may have considered it a minor offense but it was still an offense. Are the public now allowed to decide for themselves what Laws warrent Police intervention and which can just be shurrged off.
Seems the example set by our elected representatives in ignoring the Law is more widespread than in the political arena.
I have never witmessed any Police Office act in an "brutal" way…maybe it is because I am a law abiding Caymanian who avoids trouble spots!!
… and before Makam (because of my observations noted below) insinuates that I am "the type of person who associates with or are one of those people who get involved in illegal situations" I absolutely refute that, I am a law abiding person and have never been on the wrong side of the law. On each occasion I have been sitting in minding my own business nearby, or sat on a neighbours front porch observing, or simply (with the recent WB incident) passing by.
The difference is that I make my observations objectively, and don’t automatically assume anything.
Seems the example set by our elected representatives in ignoring the Law is more widespread than in the political arena.
Yes it certainly does seem so indeed – at least we can agree on that.
The RCIP is all bullies they go around bullying people and have no respect for a civillian rights. Whern the full story is learnt more than likely they will find that the officers acted in a bullish manner.
HOpefully this new Commish will do some cleaning up and throwing out of all the old garbage been harbouring in this force for years. Some may have gone but there is more left behind and some the new ones are worse than what was there before.
Bullies the RCIP only way to resolve an issue is to bully people.
This is the same kind of bullcrap we as Caymanians have to deal with the police. Instead of them all taking three steps ahead, they are taking ten steps back. They could have founded other ways and solution in dealing with this situation. What about pepper spray officers? What about stun guns? Was this man drunk? Did you tried to talk things over with him?
We know you had to protect yourselves in self defense, but come on now, where does the broken arm fit into this? It do not make any sense at all.