An Abuse of Power: Is Bermudian Getting The Justice They Ought To?

From my stint in Bermuda, I have interacted with many Bermudian who were detained in police custody on various drug smuggling offences. In most cases the alleged offenders would have had a package apprehended by the police from one of the three renowned international courier services that operate on the Island of Bermuda: DHL UPS or FedEx.

Then I had an experienced that caused me to question the methods used by and the integrity of the Bermuda Police Service when dealing with the citizen of Bermuda; more specifically in the area of drug related offences. The questions I am trying to get an answer to are as follows:

Have the Bermuda Police Service been honest and forthright in dealing with the thousands of individuals who have had their packaged searched, seized, were arrested, their activities investigated, their phone tapped, their homes searched, their friends and family inconvenience with questioning and in some case detained, the subject charged, prosecuted and in most cases the accused person went to court and plead guilty: in order to avoid the inconvenience and the negative attention of a long trial? Have they been honest in their dealings?

From my experience most Black Bermudian are of the opinion that the court system is tailored to deny them justice and as a result they refuse to fight for their rights. These are occurrences the presiding Jurist, the police, the defense lawyers and the prosecutor appreciates very much, for these court officers it is an opportunity to reduce the excess cases load but most of all, they get out of court early. This come at the expense of Justice and too often resulted in the conviction of innocent citizen, which is not good for justice. I often wonder what happened to the philosophy that it is better for ten guilty men to go free than for one innocent man to be convicted.

In April 2009, after speaking to my sister via telephone to arranged the shipment of my new passport which she was in possession of after collecting it from the passport office in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The phone calls between us were to make arrangement to ensure that we were on the same page with the shipping of my travel Document (passports) to me. The arrangement was made for my passports to be shipped to me via Federal Express (FedEx) which I should have received on the 7th April 2008. The FedEx agent in St. Vincent who is my good friend, ensure she properly label the package detailing the content of the package on the place provided for such.

Sensing that something was terrible wrong I constantly tract the movement of my package using FedEx on line tracking. When the package arrived in Bermuda, I immediately called FedEx office to make arrangement to collect the package. However I was informed that the package was in the possession of the delivery agent. Later that morning the delivery agent contacted me and informed me that he has a package for me. I made my way to his location where I signed the necessary document and collected the package. When I collected the package, I was in the company of one adult female and two children.

On receipt of the package I noticed the package was tampered with and the damage was repaired with and clear tape. I opened the package in the presence of the FedEx delivery person who informed me that was the condition the package was in, when it was given to him.

Isn’t it the procedure of any legitimate shipping company FedEx including; to inform their customers if a package was damaged and its content missing? FedEx workers could not claim they did not know that the content of the package was missing, because there is a manifest (airway bill) that outlines the content of the package and its value. Isn’t it procedure for any legitimate company FedEx included to inform their customers if their package or part of the shipment were seized by the police if doing so will not interfere with an on going investigation? And aren’t they (legitimate shipping company including FedEx) professionally and legally obligated to inform the customers if such seizure was affected if the shipment or the content of the shipment did not contravene any law?

Isn’t it the procedure for any well structured police service or force, if the seized a package or the content of or part of the content of a package to first inform the owners and initiate an arrest if any law was violated.

While conducting my inquiries, the behavior of the senior customs officer who was assigned to clear FedEx consignments and the Manager of FedEx Bermuda Ltd. had the dirty hand print of Bermuda Police Service all over my missing passport. So I made a formal report to the police documenting the theft of two St. Vincent passports, then I wrote a letter to the Manager of FedEx Bermuda Ltd. Below is the content of the letter I submitted to the Manager of FedEx Bermuda Ltd.

12 Headquarters Hill
Prospect
Devonshire
Bermuda
DV-02

To:
Christopher P. Heslop
Manager Federal Express Bermuda
Serpentine Road
Bermuda

th April 2008

Dear Mr. Heslop,

On Wednesday 9th April 2008, I duly brought to your attention and I have also taken the timeout to show you a package I received from your delivery service, which was tampered with and part of the contents namely two St. Vincent and the Grenadines Pass Port (one that was canceled with an American Visa in it, and a new Pass Port that is in compliance with the USA standards) in the name of Allan H. F. Palmer was missing form the package; a package your delivery person admitted he received from the warehouse as he delivered it.

And as you have informed me on recognizing the tape on the package that the tape used is that which is used by custom official to reseal a package after a package was examined by the Bermuda Customs, and as was confirmed by the customs officer who states that the person who use the tape should not have use the said tape on the package as they are making a transition from that tape to a new tape.

I do not have to inform you, of the importance of someone in my position having a Pass Port.

In my effort to get a speedy replacement pass port I am requesting a letter from your company verifying that a passport was shipped from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Bermuda via Federal Express and that package was tampered with and the Pass Port removed from the package.

Such a letter will aid in me getting a speedy replacement. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for your speedy cooperation in this urgent matter. Thank you.


Sig. Allan H. F Palmer

The big questions that must be answered are:

How did the Bermuda Police Service official know, that my passports were coming into Bermuda on that particular date?

The Bermuda Police Service was illegally listening into my phones conversations.

Did the Bermuda Police Service obtain lawful authority that instructed the FedEx management to hand over to them for the purpose of searching and to confiscate the content of the package?

Did the Bermuda Police Service get such lawful authority from a presiding Jurist or Justice of the Peace? If the answer to this question is yes; what was the information they provide to the Jurist to justify the issuing such authority?

Every moment of that day is fixed in my memory for two reasons the first reason: it was the day my passport was stolen by the institution I served faithfully and for the mere fact that although such a adverse occurrence it was also my best day in Bermuda.

Mike Jackman one of the B.P.S management and the proud face of unethical practice. (It Pays to be Dishonest)

I can clearly remember seeing the smug look of victory that was plastered on the faces of the main perpetrators Assistance Commissioner of Police: Mike Jackman and his accomplice Inspector Haynes.

Now if Mike Jackman and his accomplices were willing to break the law and possible knowingly provide fraudulent information to a presiding Jurist to obtain a lawful authority in order to stress an honest police officer only because he was strong enough to live his conscience and refused to fall in line with their dishonesty and to comply with their illegal instructions. To what lengths will they go to cause the arrest and potential imprisonment of a member of the community who the have an even more serious beef with.

Mike Jackman and the others are paid to uphold the law, if they can disrespect the authority with which they were entrusted, use fraudulent means to persuade a presiding Jurist to do their dirty biddings and to violate the law at will when it is in their egoist interest; then who is safe from these rough police officers. How many Bermudian were arrested and charge and prosecuted base on the dishonest actions of rough police officers. Now the big question is, who is going to police the police?

Dr. H. L. Gates: A Victim or an Aggressor

One of the issues that have received a lot of media coverage in the United States of America (USA) and should be of concern to people every where is the incident involving the arrest of a black professor of Harvard University: Dr. Gates by a white police officer: who is attached to the Cambridge Police Department. This incident give raise to many questions, and generated a great deal of tension; both racial and political. Although it seems as if this matter was resolved over a round of beer on the front lawn of the white house which is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington District of Columbia.

Many people hold fast to the opinion that Boris Gates was responsible for the escalation of this incident, while others say that the officer acted outside the perimeter of his powers. Yet all of the pundits fail to go into any detail to justify their claims.

Here we have a situation where a police officer went to investigate an incident of a possible burglary. On arrival at the scene, the police officer approached the home and was met at the door by the suspected intruder. I Guess the officer stated the purpose for his presence to the alleged intruder and asked him to proof that he is who he said he was and was indeed the official custodian of the premises. The alleged intruder went into the house accompanied by the officer, retrieved two pieces of picture identification and presented to the officer in an effort to verifying that he was who he declared himself to be.

The big question that must be answer is: was Dr. Gates actions enough to satisfy the officer need to ensure that the law was not violated, being violated and the professor, was who he said he was and had a lawful right to be in the house. There are a few indicators that tell me that Mr. Gates effort was more than satisfactory in convincing the police officer that he was indeed who he said he was and that he was the lawful custodian and resident of the house in question.

The following are the indicator that officer Crowley was convinced of Dr. Gates’ residential status:

1. 
   
   Dr Gates presented not one but two picture ID to the officer (A driver’s license and his college identification)
2. 
   
   How would an intruder in this case Dr. Gates know exactly that there where and where to get picture ID of himself in the house he was unlawfully breaking into?
3. 
   
   The fact that the officer arrested Gates only after he exited the house for the offence of Disorderly Conduct. An offence that must be committed in a public place and such conduct must be to the annoyance, disturbance and displeasure of someone who has a lawful right to be in that place. As Soon as the professor proof that he was indeed the lawful custodian and he lawfully inhabits the house, the police had no lawful rights to remain in the professor’s house. So the fact that he invited the Doctor out of his house and arrested him while outside his house is proof that he was convinced that the man was how he said he was. It is important to note that if there was a problem with the verification of Gates’ identity then the officer had all rights to arrest him on suspicion Breaking and entering or burglary (depending on the jurisdiction) pending the proper verification of his identification.

The second question that must be answered is; did The Harvard professor commit an offence?

From an objective evaluation of the evidence and the piece of law I have conclude that Dr. Gates did not commit any offence; he may have shouted at the police officer in his effort to get him off of his property, he may have also expressed some personal opinion by trying to tie the officer’s behavior to that of race, (the officer being white and Gates being a black man) and it very well might have been, regardless of what was said, It is possible that the general behavior of Dr. Gates may have hurt officer Crowley’s feelings, but hurt feelings is not a lawful reason for taking away an individual’s liberty and arresting them.

Each officer has an obligation to be guided by the law in the execution of his or her lawful duties. There are times when an officer can affect an arrest without that person committing an offence; and they are:

1. 
   
   To prevent the commission of a crime or
2. 
   
   For the individual’s safety or the safety of another.
3. 
   
   On suspicion that the individual have committed a crime (even if he did not).

Other than for the above reasons every officer ought to affect an arrest on commission of a crime or on suspicion that an individual has committed a crime.

Now that we have concluded that Dr. H Gates did not commit an offense or in any other way violated the law, we can conclude that officer Crowley under false pretence arrested Professor Gates behaving as if his arrest was lawful. It is important for police officer to understand that if someone hurt your pride, they may not be in violation of any law or any body of law and no one should be arrested because their action or words did some damage to your pride.

Although the Professor is a renowned IV league School professor, Dr. Gates was not the professional in this situation. Officer Crowley was the professor and had a professional obligation to resolve this issue according to the law of the land, his training and the professional ethics that should always govern his behavior.

Police officers are professional people and they must allow professionalism to guide their behavior and their action, they must also allow commonsense to prevail and they must stop abusing the power that is entrusted to them for the protection of the community. Just remember that, each time you act unprofessionally your behavior and action impacts on the institution you serve and affect the very people you have sworn to protect and serve.

To my fellow police officers, remember each time we insults an individual only because we are in a position of authority, or inflict blows on a member of the community for any reason other than in defense of ones’ self or a victim of a crime; and even then he or she has to be responsible with his or her actions, or their actions may be constituted as abuse of one’s power and thus, your actions may result in the commission of an offence or a crime for which you may be charged and tried.

Bro. George Jackson: Where is My Commendation?

On the 26 th of November 2007, While on duty at the Hamilton Police Station there was a male prisoner (who will remain nameless) being detained at the Hamilton Police Station. While there the young man attempted to commit suicide. The method of self-termination he chooses was to hang himself by the neck using the basic bed linen that was provided by the Bermuda Police Service to bring those who are detain the basic level of comfort. There were no recognizable tell tail signs, that would have alerted any of the officers on duty that the prisoner was suicidal or had suicidal tendencies.

Fortunately for him the prisoner's suicide attempt was not successful, although he came close in that, he went into a state of unconsciousness and the constriction of his airway was almost permanently close, this critical fact could have complicate his resuscitation and thus it made the rescue of the prisoner impossible. To get the victim down from his place of self-execution, ensure that the linen was removed from around his neck, and clear the victim’s airway took the combined efforts of three officers working feverishly to accomplish this task.

After which we had to ensure that the victim/prisoner was transported to the King Edward Memorial Hospital in good enough time to ensure that the people who had the training and the equipments that was required to revive the victim get the opportunity to do so.

The quick and effective action of my colleagues and I ensure that we got the victim down from his place of hanging to the place of resuscitation (the hospital) in good enough time for him to be revived.

As a result of our life saving actions we were given good performance (a written recognition for exceptional or outstanding performance) logs and recommended for a commendation/merit ward, which should have been awarded at the end of 2008 the beginning of 2009. Unfortunately I did not received my merit award, for the critical role I played in preventing the victim from meeting an untimely death, the Bermuda Police Service from a costly and time consuming investigation, bad press, community criticism but most off all the trauma of family and friends. I guess I am the only person who played a role in this rescue who was not so rewarded.

I know it would hurt my friends George Jackson, Bryan Bell, Michael Jackman, and now retired Randolph Liverpool’s hearts to award me a commendation, (which I deserved) after all of the stress I cause them. It is important to know that the Stress I cause the management of the Bermuda police Service was in retaliation to all of the evil they did to me.

Big George Jackson, and the others; Regardless of how you feel about me personally, the fact remains that I work for that and deserve to be given a commendation for my efforts. I will like to have my commendation for the role I played in saving the life of the prisoner and preventing all of the negatives that would have followed. ha ha ha ha.

Randolph Liverpool Your Time Has Come

...................................... Retired Superintendent of Police Randolph Liverpool

As Randy Liverpool prepare to make his exit from the Bermuda Police Service, he saw the loyalty of those he wheeled influence over and most of whose integrity he was instrumental in corrupting; when his countrymen and other loyalist in silent rebellion strongly exhibited their resentment for him when they smoothly allow his send-off celebration to fail.

All Randolph wanted, like the thousand before him was for his friends and the people of his paternity to show their respect, their love and their appreciation for him, his years of service, the contribution he made to the Bermuda Police Service (he did not really contribute to nothing else) and the beautiful island of Bermuda. Unfortunately the people he felt closest to, give him the reassurance he will be blessed with a wonderful send off; however in his own style (laced with hypocrisy) they reject his subtle influence to celebrate his departure. Some people refer to such events as poet Justice.

I know that after reading this post, some of his senior colleagues may feel incline to throw him a little pity party. Just to take shame out of his eyes and to send him off with a little self-respect. No matter how bad a person may be he or she should never be totally stripped of their self-respect.

But Liverpool should have known better! No one ever celebrate with the wicked their departure. They celebrate the departure of evil after it has gone. I can hear the remarks of his colleagues as they clearly ringing out in my ears, as if I am a part of the conversation; unfortunately not much good things are said about the Superintendent in his absence. Randolph, they are no longer afraid of what you can do to them; for in a few days you will be stripped of the influence that was bestowed upon you by the Bermuda Police Service. Don’t you know the weak man’s law of survival; (How do I come up with these things) it is: “I will kiss your ring in your presence but I will kick you in the A2S (A+2 s =) when your back is turn. Most people Randolph included, like weak men and women: weak people make even weaker and insecure people like Randy with a little influence feel strong and important. Not that they are.

Martin Paul Weekes an example of decency: an officer and a gentle man a scarce commodity

If you were wise you would have taken a page out of Superintendent to Be Martin Weekes’ book, then you would have left with a dignity that even you would have been proud of; knowing that you did all in your power to promote the elevation of human kind. The Bermuda Police Service are trying to retain its talent, we saw Inspector Haynes, Beckles etc. men who are older than you are; received contracts, why is it that the Big Superintendent Liverpool is not asked to remain on the job so he can pass on his knowledge to the young inexperience officers? I guess you are about to claim the promise Ralph made to you for doing his dirty work.

Randy, I am now concern about your children: for as father you have exposed and taught your children an overwhelming amount negative lessons. One can never measure the impact of subliminal communication which has a tremendous impacted their psyche and may affect them negatively. It is my hope that they do not now become caught up in a cycle that is the consequences of their father’s action and thus becoming victims of the institution their father was once apart of.

I am of the opinion if Randolph Liverpool did not have the uniform of the Bermuda Police Service to hide behind he may have been a victim of that institution. It is my hope that the integrity of Ethel Liverpool his ex-wife and the mother of his children were strong enough to sway them into the path of decency and clean ambition.

Randy, like I told the person who informed me of your retirement and failed send off, I wish you all the best and may the things you put your hands to in the future see only success. Let me welcome you to America when your retirement takes effect at the end of March 2009. My only hope is that you can make it and be happy as a civilian for the second time in your life without your authority and office. The two things that make you feel important. Farewell my "friend."