IF YOU GREW UP with a grandmother around, the saying “Don’t swear for a fellow” would be very familiar. The reason is obvious: you can never really know what is in a man’s heart.
I am sure there are many parents in this country who have sworn that their son or daughter would never have, or could never have, done a particular thing, only to be embarrassed later.
The old saying came back to me last week after an announcement by Acting Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith that the force would not be tolerating abuse of any sort by its personnel.
He was responding to questions about the charge that lawmen beat and severely injured Nazim Blackett late last month after picking him up in connection with their probe into a murder.
Nazim’s mother and grandmother complained that when they went to the District “A” Police Station to check up on him, they were told he was not there, but later when they heard someone coughing and called out his name, he answered.
He was later found in a blood-stained cell, suffering internal injuries and coughing up blood. An ambulance was summoned and he was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). Later he was charged with a crime that apparently had nothing to do with the matter on which he was initially picked up.
When that matter came up in court, his lawyer even raised with the magistrate her suspicions about the charge, given the events that preceded it.
There are too many hard-working, dedicated policemen and women in the Royal Barbados Police Force for the actions of any individuals to be allowed to tarnish their efforts. And, as I have said before, if as the police have told the mother and grandmother, he was like that when they picked him up, then someone has to answer for why he was locked away in a cell in that condition for hours.
Someone also has to answer for why any supposedly honest member of the force would tell the parents he was not at the station when he was.
What does this have to do with not swearing for anyone? Well, Commissioner Griffith revealed that the officer heading the investigation is Acting Superintendent of Police Margaret Stephen.
Here’s where I will ignore my grandmother’s advice and declare: If there is one member of the police force who will get to the bottom of this matter and leave no stone unturned, it is Stephen.
I don’t know anything about her personal life. I can’t call her a friend because I have never had contact with her outside a work environment. I don’t know where she lives or anything about her personal life, other than her husband and son – and only because they are both public figures.
Stephen is a veteran police officer who has spent many years in the Special Branch, that division of the force that looks after national security.
She is a no-nonsense woman and treats everyone the same regardless of whether the person is a member of the police force, the public or the Press.
She is tough and thorough, and can be rough around the edges at times, but in all the years I have had to interact with her, she has asked no favours and offered none.
If there has been wrongdoing, she will find it and she will not cover up. Commissioner Griffith could not have picked a better “man” for the job and Nazim Blackett and his mother and grandmother can be assured of a fair hearing and complete investigation.
This is one case I shall be watching closely.
