Crime
TCI Police forming special unit to interview Witnesses to Crime
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, September 16, 2022 – A new unit separate from the day-to-day police force has been created and will soon be active to collect information from witnesses in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The creation of the unit is in an effort to bridge the gap between the police and the residents amid officials at the highest level admitting the people do not trust the police.
Trevor Botting, Turks and Caicos Islands Police Commissioner made the announcement in a press conference September 5 addressing recent violence in Five Cays
“We’ve now formed a dedicated team of trained officers who work discreetly with people who want to provide information. They are separate from the mainstream force and they deal with your information discreetly and professionally.”
Botting and Premier Washington Misick both admitted during that press conference that there was a serious breakdown of trust in the island’s police force.
Neither official speculated on the reason behind this breakdown. But in a concerning twist, dozens of residents during the live accused the Police Force of having serious confidentialities issues. Some of them gave outright examples of witnesses whose information had been leaked putting them in danger.
Despite this, Botting said the team has been extremely carefully selected.
“We’ve made this change and invested in making this change as we know how difficult it is in a small community and
Botting admitted that police officers in the past had spoken inappropriately regarding witnesses but said.
“This is why we have invested so heavily in a small heavily vetted unit— they are extraordinarily well trained and extraordinarily well selected and their whole purpose is to deal with this kind of information. They are separate from the Force, effectively, they won’t be on the streets.”
The commissioner said the team was so confidential they would be reporting directly to him and not even he would be aware of who the witnesses were. He stressed that the team was trustworthy, describing them as “unmatched” in policing.
Residents were not totally convinced, in addition to leaks in the force the Islands’ low conviction rate was also a bone of contention addressed both by the commissioner and by viewers.
When queried about the low conviction rate the Commissioner referenced residents’ reluctance to speak to the force as a major problem. He stressed that while he understood that people were afraid challenges in the investigative process hampered convictions.
“I am going to be blunt here. You can’t just look at the police to solve all the crimes. If you look elsewhere around the world where they have good conviction rates it’s the cooperation of the community that starts to make a difference” he said.
In 2022 alone there have been multiple failures to secure convictions based on missteps from all sides of the justice system. The consistent failures have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and put suspected molesters and murderers back on the street.
The Police Commissioner has promised that in the near future, a number will be circulated that will put witnesses in direct contact with the new team.