Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander is calling for laws to regulate the public sharing of information after a police-involved shooting.
This follows a recent police-involved shooting that resulted in the death of 31-year-old Joshua Samaroo.
Members of the public have been expressing concerns after videos of the incident circulated on social media. However, Minister Alexander insists that evidence in this matter is important.
“You know what is important here? Evidence. And the police could have brought it out early, you know. But we respect the rule of law. The police respect that. The police also respect that, listen, there’s an investigation taking place. So we must be cautious as to how we put things out in the public domain.”
Commenting on the videos in circulation, Minister Alexander says something must be done to address them.
“Something needs to be done with those who do that in terms of the law. You cannot put things out there, get the public opinion on only what they saw for two minutes, for a minute and a half, and then draw a conclusion to it. The time has come for that to change. And the persons who continue to do that, there must be a law to treat with that. So that might be the next angle that we’re looking at.”
Minister Alexander noted that there are separate investigations into this matter.
“We have the First Division Officer doing an investigation into this, Professional Standards Bureau, the Homicide, we’re looking at the PCA who has oversight into this. What else do you need? This is the only time there are four sections investigating any murder, you call it, or shooting, is when a police do it.”