Deputy Commissioner Defends RBPF Against Police Arrests

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – According to Deputy Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux, there are some bad apples wherever you go, in all the forces.

He was commenting amid amounting concerns against the Royal Bahamas Police Force as the number of police officers being charged grows.

Just last week, a senior ranking police officer was charged with rape and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections. He has since been granted $9,900 bail.

Back in may, an assistant superintendent and an inspector were charged with stealing $90,000 from a businessman in March.

The deputy commissioner doesn’t believe the incidents will impact public confidence in the force.

Additionally, another police officer is facing eight drug-related charges.

Deleveaux says within the last few weeks there were six matters with six officers out of the 6,000 officers on the force.

While he says one matter is too much, he stresses the police force quickly addresses issues with officers who break the very laws they are meant to maIntain.

The concern of police probing officers became a point of concern after officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department Michael Johnson was placed on garden leave amid allegations following the release of voice notes that were widely circulated on social media.

While the investigation into the matter continues, Deleveaux assures all matters are properly probed.

In instances, of unethical behavior, the deputy commissioner says officers are placed before the police tribunal.

With the multiple open cases before the courts, we asked him how will the senior brass weed out the bad apples. 

“We cannot do anything to weed them out per se if we suspect anything but once a matter is brought before our attention we deal with it on a case-by-case basis,” the deputy commissioner said.

“It’s very unfair to blanket the police force as having a bunch of bad apples when there are just one or two.”