Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade once again suggested that the discipline of a senior officer who played a role in facilitating a controversial marriage at Central Police Station last year is out of his hands. Greenslade was asked to respond to comments attributed to Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage in The Tribune. The newspaper reported that Nottage said, “As far as I’m aware, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has disciplinary procedures and has a disciplinary process that does not involve civilian authority, and certainly does not involve me, so you’d have to get further clarification from the commissioner.” The commissioner had previously said that if the matter was up to him, the officer would have been fired. Yesterday, Greenslade said he would not say anything disrespectful to Nottage. “What I will say is that I always stand on my credibility,” he said. “I would invite the public and all of you to consider that legislation on the books of The Bahamas are very clear. “If you were to pick up what is referred to as the Police Force Act and look at the ancillary legislation that would pertain, then any well-meaning citizen who cares to pay attention will note that the way we deal with a constable… falls firmly in the purview of the commissioner. “The way we deal with officers that wear a brown uniform, a khaki uniform, is a different procedure. “Let me be clear, because I was told offline that I may not have been clear, there was no hesitation when the matter was reported to me. “I was quick to make a public announcement to the country as to how I felt about it and how I felt it should have never happened and I directed swift action. “A file was prepared. All of the necessary papers were prepared and we followed all the procedures that should have been followed. I will stop right there.” Last April, when the matter arose, Greenslade had said, “The paperwork is on its way to the secretary of the Cabinet and it will follow a procedural route through the governor general and certainly the Public Service Commission.” At the time, he recommended charges against the assistant superintendent involved in the matter. As previously reported, last March a man arrested on drug charges married his fiancé at the station. According to well-placed sources, the marriage happened after the groom’s family could not get him police bail. According to those sources, the groom was married in an office of the station with permission from a senior policeman. The groom, Kendrick Tinker, 35, of Grand Bahama, was arrested the day before the wedding was scheduled to take place. Greenslade previously called the marriage a “dastardly” ceremony, which violated the police force’s policies and “defied” his instructions that officers maintain public confidence in police.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 09:40:01 +0000