SHARLENE RAMPERSAD
The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) is investigating a traffic stop involving the Police Commissioner’s daughter and her husband on Monday.
This was confirmed to Guardian Media Limited yesterday by PCA head David West.
West was asked whether any complaint was made to the Authority by either T’Shauna Griffith-Bain or her husband Da Vvian Bain.
He confirmed that an investigation had been started but did not want to disclose whether it was triggered by complaints made by the couple.
“I don’t want to give out details of the investigation. PCA is investigating,” West wrote.
He pointed out that the PCA can launch its own investigations under Section 26 of the PCA Act.
The section states: “The Authority may conduct an investigation on its own initiative or on the basis of a complaint made by a member of the public, a police officer, a public body or authority, or the appropriate unit or a disciplinary tribunal of the Police Service.”
The couple both posted their accounts of the incident on social media on Tuesday, alleging misconduct by the officers who stopped them in Couva on Monday.
Videos shot by two officers involved in the stop were shared widely on social media on Monday evening.
In the video, one officer can be heard saying Griffith-Bain told him she was exempted from being stopped because she is the Commissioner’s daughter.
Both Griffith-Bain and her husband denied this allegation during the video and in their subsequent posts to social media.
In her account, Griffith-Bain said she was body searched by a WPC without reason.
She said she was ‘greatly disturbed’ that the recordings were posted to social media, including her identity, her face and the license plate of her vehicle, which she said will put both her and her husband’s safety at risk.
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith has said he will not get involved in the incident.
