Police Assault Allegations: No Charges to Be Laid
Police officers will not be charged in a case of an alleged assault against Troy Smith, due to “insufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Mike Jackman said “After consideration of evidence by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, including the TASER DVD footage, photographs, statements from the attending officers as well as the alleged victim Mr. Troy Smith, the DPP has concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings” against the accused officer. It was alleged the assault took place during the early morning hours of Sunday, July 4th 2010 when officers attended a reported domestic incident at a Pembroke residence and had cause to arrest Mr. Smith. Following the findings of the DPP, the criminal investigation is now closed.”
Mr Smith had alleged he was assaulted by Police officers during the summer, and the Police removed two officers from operational duties while an investigation took place.
This is some BULLS#*!
ya and me and d “community” supposed to be supportin d police. f**k dem guys…bunch of lies and ignorance. and you wonder why people don’t tell the police nothin.
Royal Gazette:
“Troy Smith, 28, was treated in hospital for a broken nose, two broken cheekbones, a broken bone above one of his eyelids and a sprained jaw after an incident in the early hours of July 4 outside his family home in Spanish Point”
and they needed all that to contain d guy…c’mon. ain’t obvious to see the police went overboard. step up from d phonebooks dem guys use though. AND they charging him with assaultin police and causin him bodily harm. And we wonder why people don’t have faith in d justice system anymore. What a JOKE. Bun down babylon!
So can they please tell me how he got all that injury,sleeping,you all want to no when all the violence is going to stop. So when is it when a few bad police going to stop lying to save there butts.
The police aren’t perfect, that’s a givn. Over the course of 477 people, there will be some bad apples, same as there are some doctors assaulting patients and teachers assaulting kids etc etc.
Did you read that the Taser video and audio records exactly what happened? Hard to refute.
However, when one is hit in one’s face by a bike helnet, I’m told that can cause facial fractures. Not relevant to this case of course.
Also, when you think no one’s listening and start mouthing off that you were hit in the face by your cousin with a bike helmet…please, please, please don’t be near anyone with a BackBerry with voice record facilty. That might damage a case. Not that it’s relavent to this case cos as we all know this innocent young man was just hanging out in his yard, probably saying prayers or taking an after school class and the police just rolled up and beat him to a pulp.
@ enough if you are trying to get people to read between the lines even though you are saying “not revelent to this case” medical records would be able to show the difference between a helmet and steel toe boots……….and remember there were witnesses there other than the police with their taser video and blacberry entrapment recording device,..Oh no did I say entrapment? patiently awaiting my verbal bashing…..
I don’t how many times the police have come to your house accusing you of crimes, beating down your door, and threatening to arrest you, without cause. It’s allegedly happened to me a lot. It’s your word against there and there’s.
Did you see this man’s face on the news just now. I have no faith in the Bermuda Police Service whatsoever.
The police are allegedly currupt …… I have seen them allegedly assault and abuse their powers on a number of occassions and when ordinary innocent citizens are standing by and say something to them or try to record them while they are in the wrong they then allegedly turn on that individual and try to press charges on them. THe system needs changing what type of crap is that where the public can only file a complaint against the police and then its your word against the “BPS” word. Obviously they gonna stick up for one another, that goes without saying. Again I repeat “This is some BULLS#*!” The extent of the injuries sustained by this individual speak for itself and they allegedly were caused by the POLICE having ASSAULTED the individual. It is a huge problem that charges never stick when it comes to the police, SMARTEN UP BERMUDA MAGISTRATES -if it is up to the police to investigate matters pertaining to fellow policeman do you really think that the evidience presented will be enough to build a case against their own colleagues?
wow! I am speechless!! His family are gong to pursue the decision which is a good thing!!! They are allegedly witnesses to the actual event…I was not present but what in the hell type of resistance could he have psssibly been capable of after being tasered and lying on the ground…He had staples in his head and everything from the kick to his head of which his family saw when it was being done…wow!!!! he may or may not have been in the wrong but a picture speaks a thousand words!! geesh I don’t even know what to say!!! the only thing that I can say is that incidents like this are ONE of the reasons why people don’t want to assist the police…and before eveyone jumps on my case for expressing my opinion let’s just state for the record that no I was not present when the incident happened, but let’s just say from the outside looking in..can anyone say excessive force,……wow!!!! to his family do what you have to do!!!!
Hey, what do I know. I was just speaking in generalisations. You guys clearly know more about it than I.
You seem to be saying that the police made him say something into a BB recording device or were sneaky about it. Well sneaky or not, if he was bumming on about what might have caused the injury, that might be cause for concern as to the validity of his complaint.
Are you saying Taser audio and DVD is inconclusive ir maleable in some way?
I’m not sure anyone is in dispute that force was used from what I’ve read; Taser for sure obviously.
There’s also a clear accusation from all of you that the DPP has read the evidence and has decided to ignore stuff. Or is it that police didn’t investigate impartially or at all? Well, I’d have thought that would be why you guys have an INEPENDENT Police Complaints Authority. Let’s wait for that before we write off all police as thugs.
Is anyone saying this guy didn’t use force against the police? (I’M not precluding the response being disproportionate, I dunno, DPP clearly doesn’t think so)
Just like every thread involving police, the haters come out without accurate, insider knowledge of anything and vent their vitriol.
Whatever floats your boat I guess.
I’ll step aside and let you have at it. It’s probably cathartic since that horrible (probably ex-pat (gasp)policeman gave you a ticket without saying “good morning” all while there are unsolved murders.
Of course you probably were speeing, not wearing a seatbelt or whatever, but never mind that. Plus, as you know, police have quotas to fill or is it get a commission on tickets, I can never keep up.
When you have experienced it first hand as I have, you views might change. I would never wish that on anyone. Police can legally pull people over randomly, and they do it often. You clearly have no idea what the reality is in Bermuda.
There is documentation of the type of police abuse that we have here. Both, local and foreign. This is no real justice in Bermuda. Non at all.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/former-pc-in-bermuda-killing-case-1163750.html
Falsifying a case against a woman for refusing to sleep with them…
http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?sectionId=60&articleId=7da76ab30030001
Look how the police handled this situation
http://bernews.com/2010/07/two-men-on-bail-for-molesting-a-5-yr-old
I’ll like to hear you defend them on this also. Impossible.
Lmao. so, police are being lambasted over using powers legally afforded to them…ok. Go whine to your MP. I’ve read folks on here slam them for not doing enough traffic checks, damned if you do etc
Ok, these clippings:-
1. details some PC that seems to have killed his girlfriend; I’m not sure what the result was but it sure looks like he was put before the courts….what’s your point? Is it that there are bad people in police uniforms? Wow, insightful and something I acknowledged in my first post. Want me to trawl and find bad doctors (Dr. Brown’s son for example, that guy in UK that murdered all the seniors…blah blah blah…are all doctors horrible poeple? didn’t think so)
2. Yup, terrible man…..kicked off the Service and, while receiving a conditional discharge which I don’t believe to be a conviction, his guilt was acknowledged. Again, what’s your point?
3. Um…police arrested people after a heinous crime, again, what’s your point?
is it that they were released on police bail? I’m not sure what the point is there. I’m not sure if you’ve ever investigated a crime against a juvenile but securing evidence i would imagine to be inherently difficult, not to mention providing that to court. If there is forensic evidence, that can’t be processed quickly, if they’re interviewed this poor kid which I assume they did/will then try getting details from a 5 year old…the only apparent witness in that case. Then let’s at least acknowledge that the alledged perpetrators are from MAWI; I don’t know the extent of their issues but that might be a tough one or police and/or the courts as they have a built in defence. not something for police t think about I agree but 2 folks being arrested and released on bail pending further enquiries seems like a good job.
My dismissing the first 2 is not to belittle them, as I’m not this case we are discussing. The first 2 actually go to prove my point which is: A police officer does something wrong, they were dealt with by way of due process. If you’re unahppy with the outcome of said due process, that’s a different matter.
Those 2 clips prove that the DPP is not afraid of prosecuting officers so thjeir decision not to in this case MAY JUST BE because there is no evidence of wrong doing, or the voracity of the allegation has been so tainted as to make a prosecution unlikely to succeed, or the evidence presented to the DPP shows the allegation to be nonsense. What I’m saying, so we’re clear, is that no one here knows. You all are decrying the police (judge and jury) and assuming Mr. Smith to have been viciously assaulted. I’m not disputing that, I’m jus questioning who did the assaulting and tha WE should allow due process to unfold, including the Police Complaints folks.
Your comment about there being no real justice in Bermuda, I have difficulty debunking….but that’s true the world over. OJ anyone?
You are absolutely right.I now acknowledge that most of my complaints regarding the police are really complaints with the government.
Where’s the thumbs up icon??
But, to be fair to you, I’d lay a wager I could guess which Magistrate would be on the bench if these officers were put to court.
I’m not surprise at all. Police allegedly do this kind of thing all the time. It’s bad enough that they engage in this type of behavior, but what makes even worse is that the police are very seldomly held responsible for their crimes.
What’s the lesson here: NEVER TRUST THE POLICE!!!
@ enough no where in my posting do I say I know exactly what happened nor do I accuse the DDP of anything.. clearly something indeed did happen..exactly what remains to be seen..there are no longer two sides to a story as we were taught when growing up..there are actually three.. his side, their side and the truth..and the truth will eventually be revealed…you were not there and neither was I..but there were witnesses! I have nothing against the police at all..in fact many of my friends are part the police force.. I have said it before.. some are great and give their all to the job..while others are as shady as the night is long…Like I said in time the truth will reveal itself and which ever party be it Troy or the Police then may God bless their soul for lying and being deceitful and wasting people’s time,,, and by the way PS I have never had a speeding ticket, run a stop sign, been stopped for not wearing a seat belt or have a criminal record for that matter!! Have a great day! Peace and Love!
Well,
“…He had staples in his head and everything from the kick to his head of which his family saw when it was being done…wow!!!! he may or may not have been in the wrong but a picture speaks a thousand words!! geesh I don’t even know what to say!!! the only thing that I can say is that incidents like this are ONE of the reasons why people don’t want to assist the police…”
and
“..can anyone say excessive force,……”
You’ve set your stall out despte the bits in between saying you weren’t there and let’s find out who’s at fault. Mr. smith says his injuries wee caused by a police beating and, in particular, a kick to the head (if I understand you correctly)…okay, well I’m guessing the officers deny that. So you clearly accept the word of Mr. Smith, seems kinda prejudicial. I would go as far as to say not just prejudicial but actually incorrect as far as the judicial system is concerned. Now, the judicial system is seldome a bastion of the truth, I acept that, they need a small thing called PROOF and clearly there isn’t sifficient for a prima facie case. That’s all there is. While the Police Complaints folks finding may justify a civil suit, the criminal side is done barring discovery of additonal evidence. Sounds like your anger should be directed at the DPP if you believe that there has been a miscarriage of justice as you clearly do.
Please be cognicant of the way the system is set up; police are glorified and empowered secretaries (at the risk of oversimplifying). The provide information to the DPP…the DPP is ultimately in charge of investgations and can actually legally direct investigations and often do. So, if there was a glaring hole in the file, or something missing, DPP should have seen that and directd it to be done.
I can do nothing but assume that an ivestigation was done, statements of all parties taken and (rightly or wrongly) there is not sufficient to charge the officers. That’s at the low end. It could actually be, as my subtle insinuations indicate, that there is actually contrarian evidence. But I dunno.
Hey and if you’ve never gone above 35kph (20 in St. George I think), always worn your seatbelt etc then I thik you might be the only legal driver in Bermuda to claim same. If you’re saying you’ve just never ben caught…that’s hardly the moral highground…THAT’s poor policing.
Q enough please!!! you need to read what I wrote and read it again.. I am not blaming anyone gor anything.. I see where you copied and pasted you negated to copy the fact that I said that there are three sides to a story and the truth will eventually reveal itself…pictures speak a thousand words…and being so petty… My bad if the in thing is to get a ticket and I have never had one and yes I do go over 35 KPH with 50 and above being what you get ticketed for..I always wear my seat belt and actually have always worn it before it became law here as I had resided in the USA several years before coming here so the creature of habit that I am I automatically used to put it on even before the law came into platy in Bermuda..,.I would also like to apologise for us not being on the same page..you have your opinion and I have mine but unlike you I am not going to pick through your opinion word by word and find fault with your opinion…Statements have been taken yes.. and like I said and I will say it again in case you missed it..the truth will eventually reveal itself…and which ever party is in the wrong again I say God Bless!!and as far as YOU believing that I feel that there is a miscarriage of justice..please I beg don’t try to think for me or put words in my mouth!! Peace and Love
Fair enough, no biggie. Wasn’t picking through your post point by point, your posts just read like someone who has adjudicated fault, if you haven’t, that’s cool.
As for the TRUTH eventually being revealed, well good luck with that. DPP have denied a criminal prosecution. But, with most things, there’s his story, their story and the TRUTH lies somewhere in between. As you’re clearly a believer, I guess Judgement day awaits for us all, not just the protagonists here.
The Taser should be quite impactful evidence. I see his lawyer in the paper today, hopefully they disclose to him and we’ll hear his slant on what it shows and sounds like.
victimization & entitlement is a cottage industry under this govt. That’s why this once peaceful tourist mecca has become a Caribbean ghetto!
These same poor-me moaners & whiners have no comments on taxi drivers & seniors getting beaten & robbed brutalized in their own homes…
“Man Assaulted By Two Men With Weapons,assault/robbery outside Maxi Mart, A 56-year-old man was was taken to hospital last night after being assaulted by two men with weapons “
“These same poor-me moaners & whiners have no comments on taxi drivers & seniors getting beaten & robbed brutalized in their own homes…”
I noticed that myself Sal…double standards continue in this little Rock of an island…
Seriously! I THINK EXCESSIVE FORCE CAN BE USED IN THIS MATTER..According to the pictures he wasn’t a very big guy but how do you obtain all those injuries and why? Resisting arrest no I’m sorry violently resisting arrest warrants you having your ass beat like that?! Come on SERIOUSLY! SMDH
ok so maybe the DPP has stated there is insufficient evidence to lay charges against these officers – but the Police Complaint Authority has not yet finished their investigation into this matter. i await with positive anticipation that an unbiased body will find that third version of this story – THE TRUTH.
and why can no-one else see the taser DVD??
I’m assuming that’s because the contents of it are sub judice. They can only be shown to prosecuting or (under rules of disclosure) defending parties and of course the court at large. That is until the trial has come to a conclusion.
so it would stand to reason that mr. smith would be permitted to see it for his upcoming case, correct? how odd that he has not yet been privy to its contents…
i am wondering how long the footage actually is – is it of the actual zap itself, or are the actions before and after also recorded?
When the Taser is turned on, the light (this can be pre-set not to come on) and camera activate and remain running until the device is switched off. If it’s the model I know, there are 90 minutes of recording facility, if the recording goes over that, it starts recording over what was first recorded; an unlikely set of scenarios.
Yes, Mr. Smith can, as can his counsel.
DPP stated there wasn’t what???……How many cases in Bermuda have gone belly up because of our INCOMPETENT DPP?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I should also state that if the Crown isn’t going to use it in its case, then the defence has no ‘right’ to view it. I didn’t think I made that clear. If they do intend to use it, it would be disclosed and shown to the defence prior to trial, along with all other evidence intended to be led.
To be fair, this is Bermuda and hardly anyone is ever found guilty, especially of serious offences.