History of the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association
The Act to establish the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association was enacted by the Parliament of The Bahamas and given assent Thursday, February 6, 1997. This Association enables members to consider matter affecting their corporate welfare and efficiency, including pay, pensions and conditions of service. The first meeting, with a view to cha
rt the course of the Association, was held on Tuesday, 9 September 1997. Idris Reid of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of National Security. In attendance were the following:
Mr.Bernard Bonamy - Commissioner of Police Royal Bahamas Police Force. Mrs.Deborah Fraser - Senior Counsel Office of the Attorney General
Mr.Deanza Cunningham - Deputy Permanent Secretary Department of Public Service
Mr.Alan Strachan - Deputy Permanent Secretary Ministry of Labor, Immigration & Training. Ms.Angela Albury - Senior Assistant Secretary Office of the Deputy Prime Minister & Ministry of National Security. Arising from this meeting were the following goals:
1. The process to chart the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association by making Mr.Deanza A. Cunningham coordinator;
2. All Police Officers to be sensitized regarding the Police Staff Association;
3. The Commissioner of Police to provide access for all Police Officers to the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association's Act;
4. Elections for the Branch Boards to be held during the first week of December;
SENSITIZATION MEETINGS
Meetings to sensitize Police Officer regarding the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association were held 14-17 October, 1997 in New Providence and on Tuesday October 21, 1997 in Grand Bahama. The agenda for the meeting were as follows:
1. Welcome
2. Opening Comments
3. Explanation of the Act
4. Format of the Elections
5. Question and Answers
6. Closing
A day, comprising three sessions each, was used for each rank in New Providence, while in Grand Bahama there was one united meeting. Attendance in New Providence was poor as twenty-six (26) Constables, sixteen (16) Corporals, twenty-eight (28) Sergeants and fifteen (15) Inspectors participated. Conversely, 180 attended in Grand Bahama. It was alleged that the dissemination of information regarding the meeting, was purposely not circulated by certain senior personnel in the Police Force in New Providence in a timely or concerned manner. As advised, matters of importance are diarized, and brought to the attention of each shift; however, the matter of the Police Staff Association was not. Those in attendance had heard of the meetings on the morning of the meetings. NOMINATIONS
Nominations Day was held on Friday November 14, 1997. This ran very smoothly in New Providence but the Family Islands and Grand Bahama suffered from logistical problems as the agreement by the Police Force to print and distribute the nomination papers was late materializing; consequently, nominations were held after the scheduled date. 52 nominations were received. Of the fifty-two (52) nominations received, forty-one (41) were from New Providence with eleven (11) from Grand Bahamas. ELECTIONS
Elections for the Sergeants, Corporal and Constables Branch Boards were conducted by civilians, via secret ballots, on Thursday December 4, 1997. This occurred when only two persons from the Inspectors rank, Chief Inspector A. James Blatch and Inspector Allan Emmanuel, nominated for the Inspectors' Branch Board. As a consequence, they were elected without the vote, leaving one vacancy by reason of insufficient nominations for the Inspectors Board. Nominations to fill the vacancy on the Inspectors' Branch Board were received on Wednesday, December 17th 1997 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12 noon. Again only two Inspectors, Messrs Clifford Ferguson and Clement Lightbourne participated in the process. In accordance with Section 5(b) of the First Schedule of the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association's Act, Inspector Clifford Ferguson was declared the winner by reason of his seniority. At the end of the elections process, the members elected for the first year of the Bahamas Police Staff Association were as follows:
INSPECTORS
A.James Blatch
Allan E. Emmanuel
Clifford Ferguson
SERGEANTS
#901 Norman Bain
#1442 Eucal Bonaby
#1320 Michael Braithwaite
#1152 Basil H. Collie
#689 Clarence Finlayson
#1188 Philip Wilson
CORPORALS
#326 Bruce Arnett
#40 Franklyn Campbell
#1720 Valeria Campbell
#1309 Herbt Duncombe
#1632 Killy Heastie
#1956 Terrance Higgs
#106 Michelet Memoranda
#347 Bradley Sands
#1621 Charlton Smith
#931 Peter Walkes
CONSTABLES
#1051 Shannon Bannister
#255 Dencle Barr
#1008 Floyd Bastian
#1654 Ricardo Bonimy
#660 Carltony Forbes
#1483 Brian Gilbert
#1744 Chrystal Johnson
#1464 Edward Moncur
#1525 Dion Nixon
#2169 Prescott Pinder
#1427 Wilbert Rodgers
#1202 Keith Russell
#1666 Dwight Smith
#1492 Dale Strachan
ELECTIONS FOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Elections for the 16 members to serve on the Executive Committee of the Royal Bahamas Police Association were held on Friday, December 19, 1997 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12 noon in New Providence and Grand Bahama. Elected from the Sergeants' Branch Board were 1320 Michael Braithwaite, 1152 Basil Collie and 1188 Philip Wilson. From the Corporal's Branch Board, 106 Michelet Memoranda was elected to one of the five seats. Eight (8) other had an equal number of votes for the remaining four (4) seats. From the Constables Branch Board, four (4) of the seven seats were decided. Elected were 255 Dencle Barr, 660 Carltony Forbes, 1483 Brian Gilbert and 1464 Edward Moncur. Four (4) others had an equality of votes for the remaining three (3) seats. In accordance with Section 4 of the First Schedule of the Royal Bahamas Police Staff Association's Act, those seats not filled as a result of an equality of votes were filled by Tuesday, December 23, 1997. The process used was to place the names, of those with an equality of votes, in a bag, witnessed by the candidates or their representatives, and to pull as many as needed for the Executive Committee form the various Branch Boards. The Final Results Were As Follows:
Inspector Allan Emmanuel
Sergeant Michael Braithwaite
Sergeant Basil Collie
Sergeant Philip Wilson
Corporal Bruce Arnett
Corporal Valeria Campbell
Corporal Michelet Meronard
Corporal Bradley Sands
Corporal Charlton Smith
Constable Dencle Barr
Constable Carltony Forbes
Constable Brain Gilbert
Constable Chrystal Johnson
Constable Edward Moncur
Constable Dion Nixon
Constable Dwight Smith
