Derick Sylvester: “I’m seeing a gradual increase in police brutality

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Parent Category: Jan 2012

Category: Week end Jan 7th, 2012

Published on Sunday, 08 January 2012 23:46

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Attorney-at-law Derick Sylvester has alleged that there has been a gradual increase in police brutality in Grenada in recent times. While stopping short of saying the pattern has developed since the elevation of Willan Thompson as Commissioner of Police last August, Sylvester praised his predecessor James Clarkson whom he said sought to do his best in restricting or limiting police officers from beating civilians in their custody.

“...In recent times we have seen the shooting death of an alleged mentally incapacitated man, then we have seen riot gear being used against peaceful demonstrators, and now we see the death of a young man. So what I’m seeing here is a gradual increase in police brutality,” he said.

Opponents of Thompson have pointed an accusing finger at him for bringing back to head the Rapid Response unit (RRU), Inspector Raymond “Beast” Matthew who was removed from the outfit by former Commissioner Clarkson amidst a cloud.

Addressing the media on the alleged beating of Grenadian-born Canadian resident Oscar Peter Bartholomew at the hands of police officers attached to the St. David’s Police Station on Boxing Day, Sylvester said he feared that police brutality was raising its ugly heads on the island once again.

“There is breeding in the country ... police brutality, and the powers that be, they know who these persons are... They know who the allegations are made against. Over the last ten years numerous letters have been written, lawsuits have been filed in relation to police officers who are known to just wantonly beat people once they are in police custody,” he told reporters.

Sylvester who has been a lawyer for the past ten years has challenged the Minister of National Security, Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, and Commissioner Thompson to publicly denounce police brutality.

The City Lawyer believes that as a result of the incident, the community policing policy of the force can be affected.

He said that in a situation where violence escalates, members of the community would not want to assist the police in their investigations.

Sylvester who is seeking the interest of the family said they are calling for an unbiased, clear and open investigation into the death of Bartholomew.

“The family is seeking a number of things... that the investigation be independent in so far as if it means outside assistance to ensure that it is fair because justice is all about perception”, he added.

Five police officers, one of whom had just graduated from the Police Training School, have been charged with manslaughter in connection with Bartholomew’s death.

A post-mortem conducted revealed that Bartholomew died as a result of trauma to the head with multiple skull fractures, subdual haemorrhage, and increased intracranial pressure.

Sylvester said it is clear that from the post-mortem all the injuries are to the dead man’s head.

He quoted section 65 of the Police Act Cap 244 which prevents a police officer from using a churn-churn or baton on the head of any person.

It says, “he (a police officer) should never use his churn-churn except in cases of extreme necessity, for example (a) to prevent the escape of a prisoner, or (b) when his or any other person’s life is in danger, and even then he should be careful that he strikes above the shoulder, arms or legs, and not the head.”

According to Sylvester, Bartholomew and his French-speaking Canadian wife Dollette Cyna Bartholomew who were visiting Grenada for the Christmas holiday were, on Boxing Day, touring certain parts of the country when his wife wanted to use a bathroom.

He said they felt the safest place was to stop at the St. David’s Police Station at Petite Esperance to use the facility there.

“She (the wife) went to use the bathroom facility, and on leaving the station that is when she saw the altercation that precipitated later into the death of Oscar Bartholomew,” he said.

The couple were due to return to Canada on January 3.

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