Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne is again cautioning against political interference in the operations of the Barbados Police Service.
He said the Commissioner of Police was answerable to the Head of State, the President – not the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Cabinet or Parliament.
Speaking during a press briefing, Thorne referenced Section 8 of the Police Act, stressing that the Commissioner held sole command and superintendence of the Service, guaranteeing its independence from political control or influence.
“The Prime Minister has a right – moral and political right – to make comment as to crime and violence and law and order, but anytime the Prime Minister assumes a posture in which she appears to be engaging in the operational affairs of the Police Service, that’s problematic,” Thorne said.
He reminded that Barbados was a democracy governed by separation of powers, and the police must be allowed to function without executive encroachment.
Thorne said recent remarks by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley about wiretapping and truth verification techniques raised concerns about the appearance of overreach.
“Throughout the world and certainly throughout the western hemisphere wiretapping and lie detection tests have been done by police services … it’s important for us to say that they have been conducted by police services not by political administrations,” he said.
As such he said the Democratic Labour Party did not oppose it, but there must be protocols in place.
“Therefore we do not resist if the police service believes that this question of crime can be dealt with by wiretapping, by truth verification, what we caution though is that there must be protocols there must be procedures. It cannot be an arbitrary activity, it cannot be an arbitrary action by the Barbados Police Service.”
Thorne added, citizens still had a right to privacy, a right to exclusive control of their property and person.
He told the public that only the Protective Services Commission had authority over appointments, promotions, and disciplinary actions in the police force.
The Opposition Leader also called for the withdrawal of the tint legislation saying “99.9 per cent of public, they know that the tint legislation has absolutely nothing to do with the serious violence that has occurred in this country”. (AM)
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