We do not need a degree in Criminology

by Christine Nice

'The Error'

On Wednesday 19th April, 2017 the Public Representative Official of the Government of Dominica Police force reported that a raid was made at a home in Mahaut, where 1.2 Million dollars in various currencies was seized. The following morning the size of the money was significantly reduced by half. Then the PRO publicly stated that an error was made.

Money Counting Machine

Mr Pellam Jno Baptiste, a man who the population trusted is now misleading the public to believe that the currencies were counted by hand, by police officers who did not make it to common Entrance level. This is so far from the truth.
All currencies are calculated by a money counting machine. The accuracy of this machine is 100 percent accurate. Bill counters use a special photocell to count bills. Paddles and rollers inside the bill counter pull bills into the machine. As the bills pass these photocells the sensor lets the machine know electronically that a bill has been counted. The entire process takes microseconds that is why many bill counters flawlessly count thousands of bills per minute. Every agency who deals with large amount of currencies own a bill counter. It is just another peice of equipment which cost $68, the same price as a printer so the excuse of 'error' has been ruled out.

Back in the days

When Ensley Pierre Esquire was chief of Police, police officers like George Cooke and his crew used to exhaustively chase down loitering young men for smoking Cannabis joints wrapped in cut out bible paper, sealed with saliva. The amount of money circulating around which are deemed illegal today was unheard of. Cocaine was unheard of. Still, money went missing. Police officers were instantly released of their jobs when monetary evidence turned up short. That is why Ex-Commissioner Ensley Pierre earned his much deserving Long Service Medal of Honor. He was fair, honest and just. He would make an example of police officers that they were not to tamper with Monetary, drug or any evidence what so-ever. He kept his men in-line.

Civil forfeiture
We in the OECS operate our legislation under the British law which enacted the civil forfeiture law to cripple the activities of drug dealers and money launderers. This law was initiated under the proceedings of Crime Act 2002 and has been very effective in sabotaging drug delivery when boats loaded with drugs and drug money are seized. The police department is entitled to up to 65 percent of the funds confiscated. This confiscated amount is somewhat of a bonus to the Police officers, which they can take home or buy a new car with. It is an incentive which has been inspiring policemen to now pursue individuals who might have large amount of money in their possessions, as illegal drugs are no longer priority because it does not have the virtues of liquid cash.

Abuse of Civil Forfeiture Laws
Under this law the Dominica Police force have the right to pull you over if your car is missing a light or maybe when performing a random check. If the police officer(s) decide to search your car, and find more than USD$5000 in your possession, they have the right to confiscate that money, and simply say, that they suspect it is drug money. Or they suspect you will buy drugs with that money. Your explanation of how you acquired the funds or what it is for is unimportant and will not be documented.

The same can and have been done to individuals carrying gold. If the police officer, determines (whether it be true or not) that the gold you are wearing came from the sale of illegal substances or illegal means, then the police have the right to seize your gold jewelry.

In order to retrieve your belongings or money, you need to prove to the court that you acquired these possessions legitimately. It is almost impossible to prove that you worked hard to buy your gold, or collect your money to purchase a business, because there is a statute of limitations on the confiscated items which gives an individual only 30 days to prove that his possessions were gotten legitimately. We all know how backed up the court system is. None of us can get any of our cases to be tried within 30 days.

We do not need a degree in Criminology to know when a crime has been committed, no matter who does the crime. Confiscating a sum of monies of 1.2 million dollars and having it drastically reduce over night to $550 000 is a crime. The police did not wait for the 30 days, which would allow the three men in custody to prove that their funds where gotten legitimately before it was law-lessly divided amongst the police and reduced by more than half. This crime has turned into an outcry on Dominica News online and within our communities. This is the beginning of a very serious abuse of the law by our own police Officers who are supposed to up-hold and respect the laws. The seriousness of this crime by the police have the capability of affecting every one of us, as hard working nationals. Dominicans are natural entrepreneurs. We are creative in fabricating means to make ends meet, to feed our families and to escape the system of having a boss to being self-employed. The more money we acquire the more targeted we become. The Dominica Police Force is motivated to get a salary increase one way or the other, the Prime Minister has refused to pay this increase, so the people will. I see the coming of an ominous trend. Do you see it too?