Who is guarding the guards?

In October 2006, Maurison Flavius boarded a bus from Vieux Fort, bound for Castries.

For the 70 year old, what was supposed to have been a routine trip into the city, quickly turned into tragedy.

Minutes into the ride, four armed men tried to flag down the bus, when the driver refused to stop, the men opened fire.

Maurison Flavius was shot in the head and killed; two other passengers were injured.

It turned out; the gun-wielding men were actually plain clothes police officers.

According to police, they were responding to information about a bus with an armed passenger in possession of illegal drugs.

In the end, they found no evidence and one month later, the officer who appeared to have caused Mr. Flavius’s death was charged with manslaughter by recklessness.

During that same year, two other people lost their lives to police gunfire.

In addition to that, St Lucians filed more than 200 complaints against the police.

Most of the accusations involved assault, threats or harassment and abuse of authority.

Meanwhile, statistics shows many of the accused officers are going unpunished.

Of the 146 complaints made against the police in 2005, most were either dropped by the complainants or the police department.

“I think the police are very out of control now in St Lucia or those members who act in that fashion,” said Human Rights Lawyer – Mary Francis.

She went on to say that, “the police have to be more careful in terms of carrying out their duties under the law. They cannot afford to just act in the arbitrary way in which they are acting.”

The claims of alleged misconduct by members of the Royal St Lucia Police Force are detailed on the website of the US Bureau of Democracy and Human Rights.

In its 2006 report, the organization said the main problems of human rights violations in St Lucia, involved, the abuse of suspects and prisoners by the police.

In a television interview last year, the Deputy Police Commissioner – Hermangild Francis acknowledged there were problems with the way public complaints against the police are carried out.

“I think it is time that we take away investigations of police officers from police officers,” Francis said.

As the police continue to investigate themselves, the reports continue to pour in.

At a news conference, St Lucia’s Crime Chief – Vernon Francois confirmed to reporters that two policemen were being investigated for alleged brutality.

The stories which were already in the news headlines involved an officer attached to the Canaries Police Station and another one based in Anse La Raye.

The Canaries officer is accused of throwing a chemical into a man’s face while he was under arrest; affecting his vision.

In the other case, an officer is accused of beating a 14 year old boy in Anse La Raye; leaving his back badly bruised.

Both incidents remain under investigation; however the reports are raising new questions about human rights abuses by the men hired to uphold the law.