Former top cop to hit the campaign trail

| 27/01/2017 | 65 Comments
Cayman News Service

Rudolph Dixon

(CNS): Rudolph Dixon, a former deputy commissioner at the RCIPS whose career was derailed when he was caught up in the controversial internal police corruption probe, Operation Tempura, has thrown his hat into the political ring. Dixon has confirmed that he will be running as an independent candidate in the constituency of Cayman Brac East, the seat that the current speaker, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, is also likely to contest on behalf of the PPM.

Dixon (55) was awarded what is believed to have been a substantial but still undisclosed pay-out from the public purse more than five years ago as a result of his arrest in 2008, subsequent acquittal of misconduct charges and ultimately damaged police career.

The former senior police officer said he will officially launch his political bid on the Brac on 11 February. The constituency that Dixon is campaigning in had 511 registered voters as of 12 January. While another 13 people registered in the Sister Islands across both constituencies during the final registration weekend, it will only change the final figure of registered voters in CBE for Election Day by a handful of votes.

In the 2013 election, under the multi-member system, in which each voter in the Sister Islands had two votes, 835 people voted. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly received 461 votes from electors across the whole of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman —  just over 55% of the ballot — while her then rival but now PPM party colleague, Moses Kirkconnell, secured 628 votes, or 75%.

While both of the returned candidates received votes from across the entire island, it is no secret that O’Connor-Connolly’s home base is in the heart of the new CBE constituency, even though she only received 160 votes from the polling stations on the islands’ eastern side, compared to 239 from the west.

If the speaker runs in the 2017 election, the first where the country’s now 21,000 voters will all have just one vote in the 19 single member seats,  she will almost certainly opt for CBE.

But Dixon could prove a formidable opponent to the incumbent, who has represented the Sister Islands for more than twenty years. A popular leadership figure after his time in the RCIPS, with a strong family base on the Brac, where he now lives full-time, many see the former deputy commissioner as a victim of Operation Tempura, which upset a very promising career and it is unlikely that he will be damaged by the affair.

Dixon was arrested by the UK officers from Scotland Yard in the very early stages of the discredited Operation Tempura probe into police corruption. He was first accused of making potential charges for the illegal numbers game being run out of a bar on the Brac go away, and of directing other officers to drop charges against a former senior police officer arrested for DUI.

The first allegation was soon dropped, however, and no charges were ever brought. Dixon did go to trial regarding the DUI case but the evidence revealed in court showed lawful reasons why the case against the allegedly drunk ex-cop, Rudy Evans, never progressed. These involved the circumstances of the arrest, where the officer was off-duty at the time and not in uniform. Also in dispute was whether Dixon, who was called by the duty sergeant at the time, had given an order not to pursue the case because of the problems with the arrest or whether he had simply offered advice based on what he was told.

The jury wasn’t convinced Dixon had committed any crime and unanimously acquitted the one-time top cop, who had been tipped as a potential commissioner. Given the public suspension and the scandals surrounding the wider Tempura fiasco, Dixon never returned to the job and was eventually paid out of the service.

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Category: 2017 General Elections, Elections, Politics

Comments (65)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I can count on the fingers the number of supporters he has. He has no more than 11.

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    • Anonymous says:

      you are gonna get a shock of your life!!

    • Edith Mae Scott says:

      Rudi will be fair and just. If you can’t remember seeing him on Cayman Brac or doing something for Cayman Brac, then this is a good indication that he is not an arrogant man and gave to the people without expecting or wanting anything in return. Now the man is committing his education, experience, and a sincere heart to the Cayman Brac people. There is good in everyone, it just takes a good person to recognize good. VOTE FOR DIXON!

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Want to bet that his run is being financed by someone who wants to build a marina next to a certain hotel? Mr. Dixon is being a stooge for a spoiled man child.

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    • Anonymous says:

      If that is the case, then built the marina and get rid of the stinking dirty swamp by the hotel.

      Bring some money to the Brac, instead of the tax payers having to fund the Sister Islands all year long to keep them afloat.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Who? This has to be a joke Never worried about Cayman Brac before.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    TF I left!

  5. Sandbar Mechanic says:

    Well Dixon your first order of business when elected should be to find out which deckhand it was on the famous Sandbar Stud Boat Run that was actually a Tempura Snitch and Double Agent who move up the ranks after the great upheaval and fiasco which created the very unstable and terrible crime mess we now find the RCIPS and ourselves in.Good Luck Ruddi i hope you are successful in your endeavor to get elected and deal with that self serving little bastard who is now perch up somewhere else and decieving your elected opponents.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Mr Dixon you will get good support if you support two terms in and then you are out. With the amount a Politician are paid and the pension two terms are quite enough. Also do not support the give aways purchased with Government funds its only a form of vote buying. Politicians should not get involved with no form of hand outs and especially any type of disaster fund. By the way if elected would you make it your priority to assist in the aesthetic of some of the Districts not to mention the upkeep of the Parks. There is one unsightly one that should fall in your area. I believe that you and Mr Moses should make a good team. Powerful men !!!!

  7. Anonymous says:

    He will help them again. The man is perhaps the wrong colour but he is very educated compared to a lot of others. He had a good up bringing with very good God fearing parents, some of the best. That stuff rubs off you know. Give the man a chance again he means well. Frank got a lot of jobs for Caymanians that could not get any before. He put his confidence in them and made them know what he expected. If you had seen him at a local party recently at the Seamans building then you would have seen his popularity.

    • SIGH says:

      You are Insane. Flush your mind of your negligent perception.

    • Anonymous says:

      The fact that his parents are good God fearing and some of the best does not mean that he is of the same character. He has been gone from the Brac since he was 18 years old. He has no concern for the welfare of the Brac his only concern is his own pocket with the big pay check and POWER. Say no to Rudi Dixon for the Brac .

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  8. Plato says:

    Some of the folks that I am seeing vying for political position is and remain so fake, it is unbearable. Some of them find it so difficult to even say hello to their fellow caymanian whenever they happen to see them at public places. My fellow people it should not be difficult to choose political representative for the next 4 years. Just analyse the entire 4 years and you should be able to determine who have done anything to inprove our community , and who just pop up overnight for their own retirement benefits. All these new faces was not interested in their so called “my people ” only 3 months before the election they all of a sudden becomes interested. .. My people don’t be tricked and get used this May 2017.

  9. Pointer says:

    Real talk bro Dixon for premier Ruddy is No1 Mose ain’t done squat for the Brac he got my vote

  10. Black Jack Luis says:

    The Mother of all Battles has just begun!!!!

  11. Royal Flush says:

    Dixon please close down the ACC they only here to prosecute fellow Caymanians while foreign debbles go free You got mi wote

  12. Stinky from the Congo says:

    We closing down the ACC right away Ruddy a bunch of foolinhness set up for the sole purpose of punishing Caymanians only and let others who are just as corrupt go scott free!

  13. I am RUDE-e :) hehe says:

    It’s a joke just like the USA now for any money man to “run” and can’t crawl.

    We have never ever seen these people walking amongst our people. Look around you what do you all see…..

  14. Anonymous says:

    Politics is all bullshit. Why do we all become brain-damaged every four years and vote for people that inevitably line their nests at our expense.

    We are mad and they are smart.

  15. Allar says:

    Dixon is an educated man and will do good for his home land

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  16. Anonymous says:

    I vote in the CBE, too young (at 35) to know this man. Never seen him.

    • Anonymous says:

      I am a paper Caymanian who has lived in Cayman Brac for over 20 years – never seen or heard of this man doing anything for our community and wonder what his plans are for staying on Cayman Brac if he does not get elected – like David Bodden the last time.

      Hopefully he won’t be any worse than the second elected member for CYB/LC (who seems to change her political affiliation to ensure that she is on the majority team at all times) – and it is a possibility as I understand that he has a lot of family and bar support for his campaign.

      So Mr. Dixon what are you going to do to create jobs on the Brac?. What are your plans for Divi Tiara, the Alexander Hotel, possible marina(s), slowing the flow of work permits issued to cheap Filipino labour, revitalizing two decaying districts Watering Place and Spot Bay, cleaning up the abuses of NAU (public handout unit), assisting the most vulnerable elderly in our community, having contractors front for people, allowing employers to take out work permits and then the work permit holder just goes out and hussles their own work, clamping down on the noise/questionable activity at the local thirst parlor in your proposed district?

      I see a Cayman Brac where locals are hiring foreigners because they work cheaper, live in cramped conditions and can threaten to stop their work permit – this is regularly practiced by one entity that is located between the two cross-island roads. I see a Cayman Brac where heavy equipment import permission and taxi-licenses are issued to benefit foreign run businesses at the expense of local operators. I see foreign nationals, and a lot more strange faces, walking about the streets everyday and wonder just where (and if) these persons are working, if not what are they just doing loitering around day after day – hence concerns over immigration.

      It will be interesting to hear your views first hand, as I intend to visit you in your office once you are set up.

      • Anonymous says:

        He will do spit if he is elected.

      • Anonymous says:

        Please don’t refer to yourself as paper Caymanian. It is divisive and degrading. You are simply Caymanian ❤️

      • Anonymous says:

        The only plans that Mr. Dixon will have for the Brac will be legalized gambling and casinos and this is his favourite past time. Those of us who know him know the facts. Not a good candidate for the Brac only coming out to line his own pockets

  17. Anonymous says:

    Well they need to investigate every last one of these un-charged/un-jailed MLAs for numerous levels of corruption, as far as many are concerned, they’re all guilty of Treason for what they’ve done to these Islands, to THEIR OWN people. Lock them all up as far as I’m concerned! Good for nothing… nothings!

  18. Anonymous says:

    Has he given up that construction company he was heavily involved in when he was a cop?

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    • Anonymous says:

      That would be an interesting question for him to publicly state – not sure many Brackers really know about this, so thanks for bringing it up in this forum.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Anyone who knows this man and his real history know that he is not for the Brac. No sense trading the old for the same thing.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Dr Frank Mcfield is running in George Town and some needs to have him explain his gun shot incident before he gets anywhere near the LA ever again.

  21. Anonymous says:

    i don’t know anyone who will vote for such a man

  22. Anonymous says:

    Good Luck Rudi !!

    Old politicians throughout the Cayman Islands needs to be swept under the rug, thrown into the garbage and dumped at Mount Trashmore.

    • Wsm vs Cmk says:

      True! We need young brilliance and honest excellence. No hanky pankers and “ring men”

      • Anonymous says:

        If you feel that way as most of us do then Rudi Dixon is not the man for the job. You obviously do not know him or anything about him

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  23. Michel Lemay says:

    Wishing you all the best Rudi.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Fantastic news, casinos coming to Cayman now.

  25. Anonymous says:

    I still can’t comprehend why Little Cayman and the Brac have two elected officials. The total number of registered voters on both islands are the same size as North Side.

    So much for fixing the system to create equality for all.

    • Anonymous says:

      It is a very expensive anomaly. Pandering to the Lesser Cayman voters with their over-representation in the MLA means a huge amount of public cash is wasted on an economically unproductive region.

    • Anonymous says:

      2: 26pm, You are talking ,but you don’t know, the Brac has lots more Voters than North Side, check it out, before you open your mouth.

  26. Anonymous says:

    Dixon was only charged because the people running Tempura were clutching at straws for excuses to justify the obscene amounts of money being paid to them by the Governor. If you go back into Tempura Dixon wasn’t even accused of any wrongdoing when he was suspended in March 2008. Best of luck to him with this.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Go for Cayman Brac East. We need an honest hard working person to represent us other than JuJu

  28. Anonymous says:

    Dixon has not lived in Cayman Brac nor been visible in the Brac for over 20 years. Now he thinks he can come here and tell us what we need and will lean on the votes of his family to get in. They will be stupid enough to vote for him in the hopes that he will get in and then help them. Same sh….t different day

    • Anonymous says:

      I think closer to 30 or 35 years

    • Anonymous says:

      There is no requirement that any hopeful reside in the district they declare themselves on nomination day. Eg. Ezzard or Tara could run in Little Cayman or Savannah if they wanted to.

      • Anonymous says:

        Tru. And all that is crap though.

      • Anonymous says:

        You missed the real point. It was not that he did not live in Cayman Brac until a few weeks ago. Rather it was that he has rarely visited or been involved with the community.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Candidates that have been arrested and faced serious charges in relation to abuses of office, are (for better or worse) sub-optimal choices for political life. We should try to aspire to have contenders, who at minimum, do not have a whiff of past impropriety – few as they may be!

  30. Realist says:

    If he gets in at least we know the brac will have the first casino! Lol

    • Anonymous says:

      Congrats on Mr Dixon running. Always like to see a man in charge. As long as he do not believe in giving out window shutters building materials etc paid for by our Government I think he is a good choice. I heard that Julie was going to do Missionary work in Africa so he shouldn’t have her to compete with. If he agrees that Politicians should only have two terms then I support him. As for the writer who is trying to discredit Dr Frank McField he is as good a choice as any other. He looked out for the poor during his tenure like no other. However he believed in giving them jobs rather than hand outs. Except for when we had the Ivan he looked out for everyone regardless from where they came. Frank could be seen on the back of a truck handing out water etc as far as West Bay. We know that his West Bay give a ways was not for a vote. Dr Frank may God bless you both and good luck also to our very own Capt Moses K.

      • Anonymous says:

        I would be glad to contribute funds for the second elected member to do missionary work in Africa and would commit to follow up funds year after year – am sure I can get plenty of others to donate, so blogger you sounds well informed, keep the public posted on this issue.

        And to Mr. Cayman Brac (Moses Trump) – hey man you don’t have any competition that is going to unrealistically unseat you in CBW – but you really need to try and do more for us – as I haven’t hardly seen you in the community during the past four years.

    • honest face says:

      well base on his history with the RCIPS we know that he will not help Caymanians.

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