‘My eight hours in Dominica police custody – a call to action’.
That is the subject of a letter and the name of a video sent to various leaders in Dominica, written and documented by Mr Derriman Angol of bath estate, who is calling for review of the investigations arm of the commonwealth of Dominica Police Force.
Angol, who was in police custody for eight hours for possession of counterfeit money, relayed his experience through a 56-minute video presentation, during which he made recommendations based on his observations.
The video and letter was addressed to the Prime Minister of Dominica, and copied to the Minister of National Security, the President of Dominica, the Leader of the Opposition, the Commissioner of Police, the Public Service Commission, the Dominica Association of Evangelical Churches, the Dominica Council of Churches, the Dominica Bar Association and the people of Dominica through the internet.
It is presented in four parts namely; chronological sequence of events, inferences, introspection, recommendations and action and commendations.
Mr Angol said that one of the critical issues highlighted in the video is the condition of the cell that he was placed in at the police headquarters.
Meanwhile Chief of Police, Cyril Carette explained that while there may be room for improvement, the cells at the Police Headquarters are designed specifically for the safety of the prisoners and police officers alike.
During the investigations into Angol’s matter, he also noted that he was particularly disturbed after police officers stopped on the way to his home, to beat up a few young men at their homes.
He explained that ‘the policemen stopped and beat a young man using a clothes line that they found in the house. Another officer used a can of Bop insecticide to spray in another young man’s face’.
In response to that issue, Mr Carette explained that police officers are never trained to beat up individuals, and if they do so, it is of their own personal doing.
To date, Mr Angol has not received any response from the prime minister regarding the video and letter, which was dated February 25th, 2011.
He has since informed SAT TV News that he will continue to voice his concerns on the matter, especially the injustice inflicted by members of the police force, which he witnessed.
