With police-involved shootings having increased 54 percent in 2020, compared to 2019, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said those incidents are inevitable given the current state of The Bahamas and the world.
“Unfortunately, it’s the world that we’re living in today,” he said.
“And this is not in every case, and there are some instances where the police are at fault. But when the police have to take on guys with automatic rifles, assault weapons – they recovered a few just a few days ago that may have been involved in any number of shootings…”
Dames added, “This is a reality of the world we live in. Is every police officer innocent? We have a system in place that will determine those who are at fault, they will have to face the consequences.
“…In many of the instances in this country, our young men continue to challenge police officers. And oftentimes the weapon that they have is much more sophisticated than what the police officer has.
“Whenever the police officer pulls that weapon and fires that, what he or she is saying is that their life is in imminent danger.
“…It’s very unfortunate, and this is something that grieves me every day when a young man loses his life or is shot. But police officers are trained to defend themselves. And they have to do it. I mean, this is the world that we’re living in.”
Official statistics from the Royal Bahamas Police Force revealed a significant increase in police-involved shootings, with 20 incidents in 2020, compared to 13 in 2019
Those incidents also resulted in more deaths, with 11 people having died of their injuries from those incidents in 2020, compared to eight in 2019.
Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said 10 of the fatal injuries are before the Coroner’s Court, while a police sergeant was charged before the magistrate’s court in the other fatal incident.
Dames said people should not take on police if they don’t want to be shot.
“And what I would say and caution our young men, is that any time you decide to take on the police, it’s a decision that you will come to regret because police officers are trained for situations like this,” he said.
Dames said the recent introduction of body and dash cameras will provide more transparency and accountability in such instances.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/minister-says-uptick-in-fatal-police-killings-reflects-world-were-living-in/
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