Over the past two days, there have been extensive interviews by Cable Bahamas News featuring the Chairman of the Police Staff Association.  These interviews reveal the following:

That there is a belief amongst the ranks there is friction in the senior management ranks of the Force, directly contradicting the assertions of the Commissioner of Police in his statements denying such friction printed in The Tribune on Tuesday 18th August;

That morale on the Royal Bahamas Police Force is at the lowest that he has ever seen in his time on the Police Force;

That the physical state of police stations is in need of serious attention, giving as an example the lack of repair of a campus that was blown down outside the CDU some months ago;

That the Police Force is manned by reserves at night;

That there is concern that officers continue to be on 7/8 pay while injured in the line of duty and that this affecting morale.

I spoke with the staff association Chairman this morning to confirm that these are his expressions and his views.  He confirmed them to me.

In addition, there is a concern about the state of Family Island police stations and that there is a disproportionate allocation of resources toward fixing administrative offices and not enough attention being paid to the care and comfort of the lower ranks.  There is a concern that the response time for calls to the police is too slow.

There is enough here on the public record to call for the National Security Minister and the Minister for the Public Service to answer these allegations by the Chairman of the Staff Association.

It is clear.  The charges are pointed.  The Staff Association believes that there is friction at the senior ranks, which is preventing the Force from concentrating on fighting crime.  The Staff Association is also concerned about due process in the investigation of allegations against police officers.  This is something about which I as representative for the Opposition on the public service addressed last week in relation to customs officers.  The Chairman of the Staff Association appears also to be indicating that there is a complete breakdown in relations between the Staff Association and the Management of the Force.  This is quite serious.  A house divided against itself cannot stand.

It is also clear that the Staff Association believes that morale is at its lowest ebb.

The public must be concerned and frightened in the face of these startling allegations.  The Minister must answer and answer now, not later.

Further, I was shocked this morning to see that the contents in extenso of allegations made against customs officers who were served show cause letters last week were published in the newspapers.  This goes again to the root of due process.  The contents could only have come from official sources and they are leaked in my view to poison the well and make it difficult for these individuals to prove their innocence.  This is classic trial by newspaper.

This is the ‘Ingrahamization’ of The Bahamas.  Here again, we see another example of this process: everyone is corrupt except them.  The customs officers have the right to due process and I condemn this attempt to try them in the newspapers.  It is not right; it must not stand.

Let the record show that the PLP supports the right to due process for all public servants.  I support the right to due process for all public servants.  Let the record show that the PLP calls for a full and frank explanation from the Ministers of the Public Service and National Security with regard to the matters that I have raised.