Commissioner apologizes

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle yesterday apologized for describing some of last year’s suicide victims as “weak”.

“I think in respect to those families who may have loved ones who committed suicide, there was no harm intended for them,” Rolle told Eyewitness News.

“I apologize to them for the offense that I would’ve caused.”

There was a 38 percent increase in suicides in The Bahamas in 2020, with 11 suicides in 2020 compared to eight in 2019, according to statistics from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). 

Of the total suicide victims, 10 were men and one was a woman.

On Monday, while noting that more research is needed to determine the reasons behind the figures, the commissioner claimed that a number of incidents were domestic-related.

“What I can tell you is we had a few of those that we know were domestic-related, where fellows are weak and they kill themselves because they were having issues with their females,” Rolle said.

“I can leave that right there because to go further than that would require more research.”

Progressive Liberal Party Leader Philip Brave Davis called Rolle’s comments “insensitive”. 

When asked about the commissioner’s comments outside Cabinet, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames told reporters, “I’m not going to go there.”

He noted that The Bahamas, like the rest of the world, is going through “some very difficult times”.

“A lot of people are hurting,” Dames said.

“This is something that we continue to address. We’ve been working on this with the crime council led by Dr. Allen and other ministries of government under the auspices of the Ministry of National Security. They would’ve done a significant amount of research on this area.

“We know that we all have some work to do to help our brothers and sisters. Last year was certainly not an easy year. When you look around the world and you look at figures of suicides, it’s up — a lot of stress is out there.

“We just have to continue to work with our people to ensure that we continue to see those numbers decline. You know, it’s important for us to do so. It’s looking at every measure possible to help and to assist in reducing these numbers because everyone is affected.

“Everyone is affected by this and last year was an extremely difficult year for so many.”

The post Commissioner apologizes appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/commissioner-apologizes/