The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) has not been deployed across the country to provide special services to assist the Royal Barbados Police Force in its fight against violent crime.
In fact, any time soldiers accompany police in the line of duty, it cannot, by law, be outside the customary operational support the BDF currently provides.
That confirmation has come from the Ministry of Defence and Security, after an excerpt from the Official Gazette went viral on social media platforms last week.
The notice, dated December 26 last year, was part of a legal instrument signed by then Acting Governor General Philip Greaves, which gave the BDF power to provide operational support to police from January 1 this year until June 30.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence and Security, Tim Maynard, said Barbadian citizens had nothing to fear, adding no special powers had been granted to the BDF outside what had been done over the last two decades.
“That is nothing to be concerned about. It is the usual instrument which allows members of the Barbados Defence Force to lend assistance to the Royal Barbados Police Force.”
Maynard noted that, by law, the instrument has to be signed every six months, since members of the military were not allowed to police citizens under normal circumstances.
Last week, people shared the excerpt and voiced concerns, asking if the BDF was being deployed to help police in their fight against violent crime.
“If you look back at of the Official Gazette going back for many years, it has always been the case. It has to be done to make the operational support lawful,” Maynard added.
In the past two decades, BDF personnel have assisted police in drug seizure operations, as well as patrol the “jump up” route on Grand Kadooment every first Monday in August.
They are not allowed to make arrests or take persons into custody. (BA)