Outcomes - Selected Case Summaries
Categories
Domestic Dispute Leads
Investigation | 12 May 2020
Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS)
A police officer and another individual were involved in a physical altercation. The individual alleged that the officer had assaulted him. He made a complaint to the Ombudsman, claiming excessive use of force by the RCIPS officer.
The Ombudsman determined that, while there had been a fight at the residence, there was no evidence that the officer – who was on duty and in uniform at the time – assaulted the other man as was described. Having ruled out the allegation of assault, the Ombudsman had to determine whether the officer’s use of force was appropriate in the circumstances.
The Ombudsman found that the officer involved applied necessary force to arrest the other individual, who had physically confronted the officer. The force used by the officer, initially in self-defence and then to arrest the attacker, was reasonable given that the other man’s resistance to the arrest left the officer with no other choice.