by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): A viral video has grabbed the community’s attention, showing a man with what appears to be a knife in his hands repeatedly kicking and hitting the main door to the Daniel Brantley and Associates Law Firm. The man, known to be mentally ill, was arrested by the Police.
The arrest, also caught on video, showed the man lying face-down on the road as two officers tried to shackle his hands and another officer held his neck. Bystanders, as heard in the video, suggested that the officer should “let go the man neck.”
The incident, which occurred in the heart of the capital city, Charlestown, drew a sizable crowd of onlookers.
Details remain unclear, but WINN FM awaits feedback from the Police about the attack on the Law Firm of Daniel Brantley and Associates on March 29, 2023.
Similar situations where the police were recorded pinning persons of interest to the ground were recently brought up at the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force Press Conference on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, where local Journalist Mr Jermine Abel referred to two instances where the police were perceived to have executed their duties unprofessionally.
Abel recalled an incident in Newtown, where a man was smashing several glass bottles on the ground and police, upon arrival at the scene, slammed the man to the ground. The journalist recalled another incident in Nevis where a police officer stood on the back of a man in a drain. Both incidents were caught on camera.
Abel questioned the Police High Command about those incidents and the possible measures for dealing with officers who do not execute their jobs professionally.
“How are you, as the leader of the law enforcement body in St. Kitts and Nevis, going to be seeking to 1) address the behaviour of officers in your Police Force and 2) also build that trust that has been eroded somewhat by the behaviour of officers in the police force?”
In response, the Commissioner of Police-Mr James Sutton mentioned that a special unit is in place to address the misconduct by police officers.
“Police Officers are not above the law, and we have established a unit within the organisation called the Professional Standards Department, which is tasked with investigating police officers who have been unprofessional towards members of the community; and that is one of the areas I intend to beef up and have some enforcement in that area because if we are promoting Community Policing and Police officers are being unprofessional with members of the community, it defeats the whole purpose. That is, first and foremost, accountability and respect.”
