Outgoing Police Commissioner Milton Desir approved Saturday’s Onyx concert at the Daren Sammy cricket stadium at Beausejour, Gros Islet, where the appearance on the stage of a police officer with an open-carry firearm created a public backlash.
“In the final analysis, the Onyx show was approved by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Milton Desir,” Assistant Commissioner of Police George Nicholas told a news conference on Wednesday.
Nicholas, responsible for security at the show, disclosed that the Commissioner’s office approved a list of police officers.
He said he was aware of the issue regarding the officer on stage with a firearm.
But he explained that the gun-toting cop was not on the approved list signed by the Police Commissioner.
“When the matter was brought to my attention I spoke with the officer and had him to conceal himself so that he would not be seen in plain view by the patrons,” Nicholas told reporters.
However, he said by then, the damage was already done.
ACP Nicholas told the news conference that since the incident, the Police Commissioner called for an investigation which is currently ongoing, into all the circumstances relating to the incident.
In addition, he was aware of two contradictory letters in the public domain.
One of the letters did not approve Onyx concert, while the other indicated the opposite.
According to Nicholas, it is not unusual for a decision to change in such matters.
And he said the Police Commissioner gave approval, satisfied that the event met all the required conditions.
“I think the bigger issue is that the letters got circulated in the public domain and that is a matter that the office of the Commissioner of Police has promised to handle,” he revealed.
Nicholas said when an application reaches the Commissioner’s office for event approval, the promoters would have started the process long before.
In this regard, he said before reaching the Commissioner’s office the Onyx show would have had to, among other things, obtain a work permit from the Labour Department for foreign artistes, a health permit for food preparation, approval from the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) for holding a mass crowd event and Fire Department permission to hold the event in respect of the safety of patrons.
Nicholas indicated that once the various agencies, including the Solid Waste Management Authority, gave their nod, the application would go before the office of the Police Commissioner for approval.
“All that would be required from the Commissioner’s Office as it relates to other documents is the attachment of the list of officers who would be providing security for the show,” he stated.
A off duty police officer had a firearm on stage, what exactly is there to probe. Some st.Lucian’s are trying to act like foreigners true say they got a social media platform to talk crap. The show was a success yes, ok let’s make more shows and less talking crap
What was the big deal for concert happening? Guns is yall issues now? Ask the mexicans what is life like on the street of mexico? This practically expose our police training level quite insensitive when they have to act responsible. 905 of the police men and women are there for just vengeance nothing more.
Cart before the horse. It is my view that a temporary approval document can be issued by the Commissioner’s Office long before the event, during that time the Police can carry out their investigations of the character of the individuals that will be on show, and that the organizers will be able to get the necessary authorization from the Fire, Solid Waste, Sanitary Department, Security etc. Having obtained all these documents, the organizers can now get the final approval document from the commissioner’s office who would be satisfied that all the requirements are met and approved the event.
so basically hilaire not making any sense then cause if you have to go through all theses approvals before it reaches the commissioners desk then once all these boxes are checked he can give you the approval to have the show cause i was saying that would be messed up that you get all what is required and then for the commissioner to say no, so basically the only way he would say no is if you dont have the other approvals they mentioned above, so this has noting to do with the Artist in question then?
The questions:
Are members of the the Royal St. Lucia Police Force allowed to engage in Moonlighting duties?
Is there an approval process for Moonlighting?
Who is the person authorized to approved Moonlighting?
Were these Officers Moonlighting or not?
Isn’t it a conflict of Interest to use the skills of a police officer to provide Moonlighting Services for a private business?
Why do private businesses, “Hell Bent Solely” on using members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force to provide security services for them?
Aren’t members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force sworn to provide security to the nation and its citizens?
Wasn’t Moonlighting by the Royal St. Lucia Police Police Force, Police Officers, a big issue some years ago?
Are the Firearms used by Police Officers the property of the government?
Are they allowed to used these issued Firearms to provide protective and defensive services for privates Business?
JUST ASKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If an Officer discharges a Firearm who absorbs the cost of replenishing the ammunition?
Exactly ABC, it was a success, no shootings!. They knew what this artists about….
Okay, that officer should of been right in front of you with the open carry.
If someone had throw a bottle on stage who the officer would of point that gun at?
But why was the officer on stage with an open carry gun? That is the question. In my view Nicolas, you did not do a good job controlling your officers that night and the officer in question did as he pleased and did not follow procedure. So you Nicolas should be delt with because you slip that night.
Simon says, ask the police for a copy of their off duty employment policy and all you questions will be answered. Now my take – there is nothing wrong with the police engaging in moonlighting. It is a practice by police officers the world over to supplement their income while at the say time, protecting citizens who can afford to hire them. That is preferred to those officers engaging in illicit activities to supplement their income.
Let’s all agree that the officer on stage with an open carry firearm is an idiot, plain and simple. But did he commit an offense. NO! However, I think the force can discipline him if they did not grant him permission to moonlight. Now for his level of stupidity, I think he should be punished!!
It’s no big deal. If an artist is brought down, the security at the venue needs to be provided. All this red tape shit needs to stop. All this brag over an officer with a fire arm on a stage protecting an artist. Lucians wake up and get international. An event which was well attended with no reports of violence should be a plus not an issue.Skillibeng must have had a concert here last year too when 75 homicides were recorded. Music or guns don’t kill people, people do!!!
It’s no big deal. If an artist is brought down, the security at the venue needs to be provided. All this red tape shit needs to stop. All this brag over an officer with a fire arm on a stage protecting an artist. Lucians wake up and get international. An event which was well attended with no reports of violence should be a plus not an issue.Skillibeng must have had a concert here last year too when 75 homicides were recorded. Music or guns don’t kill people, people do!!!
Much ado about nothing! Or is somebody trying to make the outgoing Commissioner look inept?
And who was that idiot cop protecting may I ask. Tell me how could he have protected the artist with a firearm in hand? Wouldn’t it have been more practical to have a concealed firearm and stand a short distance away from the artist in order to rush him off stage in the event there was indeed a security threat? Would the officer have fired towards the crowd if a threat originated from there? Just asking.
Nothing to see here. It’s a certain segment trying to tarnish the reputation of one man because the Minister erred in this statements. Any event organizer will tell you that sometimes events are not approved when it reaches the desk of the Commissioner if certain measures are not in place. Once the promoters are able to satisfy the commissioner that they have been able to rectify the issues highlighted permission is granted. I think the Minster was correct when he said that certain conditions were not met so approval was not granted however he erred when he said that the event was not approved because of lyrics of the songs of the artist. That’s nonsense. We have had worse in Saint Lucia. It is my view that it is not the role of the commissioner to deny approval for a show because of the lyrics of the artist. Why was a work permit issued for said artist if it’s a policy statement of the government that the artist should not be allowed to perform. I long for the day when our leaders can raise their hands and say our mistake, we will learn from this. Seems like a totally alien concept!
Herein lies the problem. All the powers that be should have been on the same page with approval or non approval. Honestly, it does not look good when leaders involved in a specific process are not collaborating effectively. When a decision is made everyone involved in the decision making process should be aware of the recommendation regardless of the outcome.