After his first year in office as Chairman of Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Justice William Ramlal reported open abuse of the constitution by “a substantial number” of police officers under investigation, including the wrongful arrests of members of the public and unlawful searches.
“The [PCA’s] investigations have revealed that arrest of citizens, including minors, for summary conviction offences were quite frequently unlawful and where lawful, have been unnecessary. The Police should be made aware that such arrest amounts to misconduct contrary to Section 4(1) of the Police (Discipline) Act…,” Ramlal states in the PCA’s report for 2019, which was recently circulated in the National Assembly.
According to the report, 276 complaints were closed for that year after preliminary investigation, with 27 more pending investigations. For that year as well, three complaints were referred to the Commissioner of Police, while five were sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
