Ombudsman looking at cop response to violence report

| 21/08/2019 | 25 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has confirmed that their response to a violent attack on security guards and other staff in the Scotts Marina and George Town Yacht Club area on Sunday night has been referred to the Office of the Ombudsman for investigation. Since the incident, in which one guard was critically injured after being run over by one of the suspects, unverified concerns were raised in the CNS comments that the police were very slow to respond.

Although we have been unable to track down the commenter, who appeared to be from the security company involved, we asked the police about the claims and a spokesperson confirmed that they had received more than one report during the incident.

However, the police stated that in the first call the emergency services were told that a group of four boys had been causing trouble but there were no weapons and no injuries. Therefore, the police did not send officers to the scene after that initial call.

“This was quickly followed by information that the boys had left the scene,” the RCIPS stated, noting that at that point no units were deployed.

“Sometime later further calls were received indicating for the first time that violence had taken place, with rocks being thrown and someone being struck. Within ten minutes of that information being received, it was reported that police were on the scene and had spoken to victims.”

The police spokesperson told CNS that following the incident an internal review of the response was begun, and the matter is now being reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The comments submitted to CNS claimed that from the beginning the gang of boys had been violent towards security and other staff in the area and that this had been conveyed to police. The main concern appears to be that if the police had attended the scene after the first call, the injuries sustained by the staff who came under attack, and especially the security guard who was run down, could all have been avoided.

The issue has once again ignited the debate about allowing security staff to be armed. The debate last raged in 2011, when the Legislative Assembly proposed amending the Penal Code to allow security guards to use bullet-proof vests. However, the police have resisted allowing guards to be armed with anything other than batons and only when properly trained.

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Comments (25)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    it is what it is…what do you expect when the police farce is full of poorly educated west indians…who have no intention of ever doing real work for a living.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’m quite sure the current ratio of Caymanians to Jamaicans is 1:10 in the RCIPS currently. Of course you won’t have the same drive to serve someone else’s territory.

      I gotta agree with your comment unfortunately.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    I think anyone who has lived here long enough has experienced or heard of stories of the slow police response to things. It is not likely going to change anytime soon, regardless of what the Ombudsman office recommends. With that said someone connected with the report will have to take the heat.

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  3. Breach of the Peace says:

    4 young guys disturbing the peace at a public restaurant – any call to 9-1-1 REGARDLESS should have been responded to. It’s called BREACH OF THE PEACE. Which is an offence. I fully agree with an earlier comment made – HAD the police shown their presence initially then this entire incident would not have happened! The RCIPS wonder why no one respects them! Because they do not respect us nor our pleas for help / assistance! There was NO ONE crying wolf here! DO YOUR JOB RCIPS regardless of the severity of the call or regardless if weapons or drugs are involved!!!! SHAME ON YOU!

    STEP UP RCIPS – you need to read your values – Respect / Courtesy / Integrity / Professionalism / Service

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  4. Johnny Rotten says:

    Mention of drugs involved and they’d be there in a flash!

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  5. Anonymous says:

    US cops would be issuing beat-downs in all the ghettos to get these pieces of shit.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    9-1-1 Dispatch operators have full and unusual discretion to meter EMS response to calls for help from the public. They shouldn’t be given the power to arbitrarily decide not to dispatch ANY request for help. Even false alarms are good practice for a chronically under-worked police force over 400.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    It’s interesting that the commenter was likely from the security company.

    Are they trying do damage control. Why contract our security services if all you will do is call the police without even trying to control or contain the problem?

    I do, however, wish the injured officer a full and successful recovery.

    Where were his colleague(s) at the time?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Getting rocks thrown at them. What’s your point – that security guards, who are denied the right to defensive weapons, are somehow different from members of the public and don’t deserve police protection from assault by violent thugs?

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Almost anything can be used as a weapon.

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    • Strawman says:

      Yes and there are many. But in this case, at least it wasn’t a gun! Which I suspect you are implying ‘see, guns aren’t all bad’ – with that remark.

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      • The Lone Stranger says:

        Strawman, guns AREN’T “bad”. In fact, I’ve never known of a gun acting alone to do anything bad. It’s far better to have a gun and not need it than to NOT have one when you need it.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Until you get really angry and it’s right there at hand, or your 5 year old finds it, or a burglar steals it ….

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          • Anonymous says:

            Armed robbery and home invasion are frequent enough to assume some relatively remote risks. Sitting around with your thumb up your ***while relying on totally ineffective policing seems stupid.

    • Anonymous says:

      The police were called and told they were causing trouble, but because they had no weapons the police decided not to show up….and this is why we have problems….the country with “no gang problems”…

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  9. Anonymous says:

    The police have lost all understanding of the policing standards expected in this community. We want law breakers to be apprehended. All of them, and all the time. That does not mean everyone has to be prosecuted. It just means everyone should have a respect for law and order and the police. The police have been too lax for too long, and the standards have dropped far too low.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    There was a man riding a bicycle thru our neighborhood one afternoon just going up and knocking on doors and when I caught him at our house he claimed was looking for someone. I called 911 and they told me to go back to wait for a police officer to come bye but could not tell me a time. As I had to get back to work, I told them I could not go back and wait, well that shut the whole thing down and no police. Later on there was a public report of someone breaking into properties.
    Typical attitude as no one gives a hoot; just look at the roads between the unlicensed motor bikes, overloaded dilapidated dump trucks racing up and down and the completely uncivil behavior of some drivers on the road.

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    • Anonymous says:

      1:19 I think I’ve had the same experience with this man on the bike. He came to our door claiming to be “looking for his nephew”. Utter rubbish. Called the police. They told us he was likely a known burglar in the district. Apparently harmless but if you open the door will seize any valuables in reach and make a dash for it. Why he hasn’t been arrested is a mystery to me…

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  11. Anonymous says:

    I can remember in December a couple of years ago a big fist fight broke out among people leaving a Christmas party in the restaurant just next to where I was living. When I phoned that in the first question was whether any weapons were involved and if I could see anyone who was injured. As the answer to both questions was no RCIPS didn’t respond. What RCIPS don’t seem to have got their collective heads around is when things like this kick off they quickly escalate. Within minutes of that call ending there were cars racing round the parking lot and through the people fighting.

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