Almost 12 years ago, police admitted to beating an armed robbery suspect so severely that he soiled himself. At the time, officers justified the use of force by alleging that Gayland Ford had attempted to escape from the Criminal Investigation Division on Thompson Boulevard. In 2001, Justice John Lyons determined "this was an untruth thought up by the police officers in an attempt to cover their beating of the plaintiff". Ford was arrested in good health on December 25, 1993 on suspicion of armed robbery.
According to court documents, on December 26, officers stuffed a brown paper bag in Ford's mouth and placed a sofa across his feet. Then they placed a black plastic bag over his head before commencing a vicious assault in which they kicked and beat him with a two by four piece of lumber and a 'cow cock'. Ford suffered broken ribs and multiple contusions to the torso in the attack. Following his acquittal, police admitted liability during a civil suit in 2001 and Ford was awarded $81,820 in damages and legal costs after undergoing what the judge termed as "torture".
In his judgment, Lyons said, "Sometime during this beating he had, not surprisingly, signed some papers. One surmises that this saved him from further beatings." Today, police are still fighting allegations regarding the treatment of suspects in custody. Criminal defense attorney Raymond Rolle told The Nassau Guardian that police brutality is prevalent. He said, "You see the same type of things over and over. "...One has to ask oneself, is this the kind of country we want to live in? Is this the type of justice we want being meted out to persons who are accused?"
The treatment of suspects in custody has come to the forefront after two suspects died within 24 hours in February. Jamie Smith, 35, died of asphyxia (lack of oxygen) at the Central Detective Unit and Aaron Rolle, 20, died from a ruptured intestine caused by blunt force trauma. Raymond Rolle said: "The safest place in this country should be in the custody of the police. Unfortunately, that is not always the case." On the other hand, Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson, who heads criminal investigations, said claims of abuse like beatings, waterboarding and suffocations are only allegations.
Ferguson said brutality is not an investigative tactic employed by police. He said, "We don't teach that." Ferguson said these claims remained "allegations" even when a judge determined that the confessions were not made voluntarily. However, using brute force to extract confessions often has unintended consequences as suspects are often turned free once they can prove they were harmed in custody. Rolle said if police conducted better investigations and produced other evidence besides a confession; a suppressed statement would not necessarily lead to an acquittal.
However, for the most part the prosecution is grounded on the alleged confession. Rolle said, "It's incomprehensible that nine persons out of 10 would willingly admit to the commission of a criminal offense without more. There is seldom any forensic evidence to support the prosecution of many of the cases that are brought forth." Rolle said complaints of police abuse "should wither away" if there were proper investigations. He said, "I've seen persons taken to court with a bloody nose and being dragged up the court steps. So the question is: How does all of this happen when you should be in the safest place in the country?" Ferguson agreed that in many cases investigators rely solely on confessions because they are unable to find independent witnesses.
However, he said if police have additional evidence they produce it. He said, "People don't seem to understand that investigations aren't easy. They get these preconceived notions from watching TV. If there's forensic evidence, we present it. We can't just manufacture evidence." Rolle said a suspect's movements should be filmed on entry and throughout his detention. He recalled a case in which a murder suspect was acquitted after a judge refused to accept his videotaped confession. The suspect's mouth was bruised and bloody on the tape. Police claimed that the man had been beaten up prior to his arrest, yet no one took him to a doctor.
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