Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Dixon and former Inspector Burmon Scott were arrested on Thursday as London’s Metropolitan Police widened their investigation into corruption in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS). At a 15 May press conference, H.E. the Governor Stuart Jack, flanked by Acting Commissioner David George and Senior Investigating Officer Martin Bridger, announced that Commissioner Stuart Kernohan and Detective Chief Superintendent John Jones are being formally investigated for “misconduct in public office”.
Mr Bridger said that Mr Dixon had been arrested for “other criminal acts completely unrelated” to the current investigation involving Mr Kernohan, Mr Jones and Mr Dixon. On Thursday afternoon Mr Dixon was granted bail. "We have now reached a stage where, again supported by legal advice, we have reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Dixon of being involved in other criminal acts,” Mr Bridger said..
“In this regard he was arrested this morning. A former RCIPS officer has also been arrested this morning in connection with the matters connected to Mr Dixon. Mr Bridger declined to identify the former officer referred to at the press briefing on Thursday but Cayman Net News has since identified the unnamed officer as Mr Burmon Scott, a now retired 28-year veteran of the RCIPS.
For the first time since the suspension of the top cops, Mr Bridger said Mr Dixon was being investigated for his role in the events surrounding the 3 September 2007 break-in at the office of Net News Publisher Desmond Seales by former staffers Lyndon Martin and John Evans. Pressed by reporters for details on the nature of the alleged crimes under investigation, Mr Bridger said it was too early to go public. Mr Jack said the decision to widen the Kernohan-Jones-Dixon investigation followed fresh allegations of police corruption.
On Thursday, 27 March, Mr Jack had announced the suspension of the three commanders to facilitate a probe into alleged wrongdoing. The move came in the wake of an earlier Metropolitan Police investigation into an alleged “corrupt relationship” between Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis and Mr Seales. Both Mr Ennis and Mr Seales were exonerated of any wrongdoing by the officers, who subsequently charged Mr Martin for his role in the Ennis/Seales investigation, which lasted six months. “While conducting the investigation involving Mr Seales, Mr Ennis and Mr Martin, it became clear to my team that both Commissioner Stuart Kernohan and Detective Chief Inspector John Jones were involved in developing matters from the time Mr Martin made the original allegations about Mr Seales and Mr Ennis,” Mr Bridger said.
“Seeking corroboration of what Mr Martin was saying, Mr Kernohan, subsequently supported by Mr Jones, conducted certain enquiries, which led to a Cayman Net News employee entering the newspaper’s offices on the night of 3 September 2007.” Mr Jack said that the three officers would continue to receive full pay. He said he had given Mr Kernohan permission to visit the United Kingdom on “compassionate grounds”.
The Governor urged the public to have confidence in the RCIPS, saying the majority of officers were honest and hardworking. “The fact that we are taking the received information seriously is not an indication that we have a wholesale lack of integrity in our police service,” Mr Jack said. “Rather, it means that we in the Cayman Islands want a police service above reproach, and if this means further investigations, we are willing to commit to it. This entire process gives us all an unprecedented opportunity to review and adjust our police system to deter those who may be tempted to behave inappropriately. We are looking at both creating stronger internal processes within the RCIPS and considering an independent complaints mechanism.”
Acting Commissioner George said he would ensure that systems are in place to deliver a robust and transparent complaint and discipline policy, and customer-centred processes at the RCIPS.
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