{"id":125388,"date":"2021-03-16T07:53:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T11:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=125388"},"modified":"2021-03-16T08:05:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T12:05:11","slug":"government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Government to establish independent body to investigate complaints against police officers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Public Safety Minister Steadroy Benjamin said the government will establish an independent body to address complaints against police officers.<\/p>

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\u201cI want to put the police on notice,\u201d he said in Parliament on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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He was at time moving the Legal Profession Amendment Bill 2021, which among other things extended the number of members that sit on the Disciplinary Committee that deals with complaints against attorneys-at-law.<\/p>

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\u201cWe intend to come back to parliament shortly to set up an independent body, outside of the police to whom complaints can be made against police officers\u201d, the Public Safety Minister revealed.<\/p>

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He explained the body \u201cwill be made up of independent persons outside the police force so people cannot get the impression that police are investigating police. It must be an independent body in whom people can have faith and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Benjamin’s comments came a day after an incident in Browne\u2019s Avenue, in which a man claimed he was shot at by a high-ranking police officer.<\/p>

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Police spokesman Inspector Frankie Thomas reportedly said the force had an internal investigation board comprised of senior officers.<\/p>\n

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He was quoted saying, \u201cAnyone with a concern or who feels they have a need to make a complaint against an officer would take it there.\u201d<\/p>

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Public Safety Minister Steadroy Benjamin said the government will establish an independent body to address complaints against police officers.   \u201cI want to put the police on notice,\u201d he said in Parliament on Thursday.   He was at time moving the Legal Profession Amendment Bill 2021, which among other things extended the number of members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment to establish independent body to investigate complaints against police officers - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government to establish independent body to investigate complaints against police officers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public Safety Minister Steadroy Benjamin said the government will establish an independent body to address complaints against police officers.   \u201cI want to put the police on notice,\u201d he said in Parliament on Thursday.   He was at time moving the Legal Profession Amendment Bill 2021, which among other things extended the number of members […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-16T11:53:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-16T12:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Cutie.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"934\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Government to establish independent body to investigate complaints against police officers\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-16T11:53:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-16T12:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\"},\"wordCount\":225,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-to-establish-independent-body-to-investigate-complaints-against-police-officers\/\",\"name\":\"Government to establish independent body to investigate complaints against police officers - 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