Police Commissioner Trevor Botting has condemned a social media posting accusing one of the Bahamian officers currently serving in the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, calling the act malicious and hateful.
The posting, which accompanied a photo, accused the Bahamian Police Officer of murder and murder, thereby accusing the powers that be of corruption to have the officer serving, while his case was pending.
However, a statement from the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said the police officer in the official police photo was not the murder and manslaughter accused.
“The public is hereby advised that yesterday (09th October 2022), the profile ‘Kingrobert King’ used social media platform, Facebook, to publish and cause to be circulated, a completely fabricated and misleading statement, calling into question the integrity of a member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force,” the RTCIPF statement said.
The statement further noted: “The ‘Kingrobert King’ profile proceeded to use an official picture, the property of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, to inaccurately identify the officer as being on both murder and manslaughter charges with the caption; ‘Corruption at its finest lol. How is this even possible for the police force to send him to work in the TCI if he’s on half pay for murder.’
“The officer identified in the photograph is not the officer who is charged.”
Commissioner Botting, weighing in on the matters, reminded members of the public to exercise balanced responsibility while exercising their constitutional right of freedom of expression.
“I condemn completely the dissemination of fake news that is clearly malicious and intending to create harm to personal reputations. The officer identified is not the officer who is under investigation and is on the TCI to support policing and make the TCI safe and secure for which we are thankful.
“Circulating hateful and false messages are offensive as is the use of the RTCIPF official photograph. I am asking that people think about what they are sending out on social media before they hit the send button and consider the impact on others.”