AG: No need to panic

The Royal Barbados Police Force now has expanded powers to implement two-day curfews or a so-called “special investigation period” in response to serious violence, in the use of cordons and to stop and search.

The additional powers are being granted under the Police (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was piloted in the House of Assembly yesterday by Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Adriel Brathwaite.

However, the Opposition Barbados Labour Party, through former Attorney General Dale Marshall, has warned Government the bill could infringe the rights of citizens.

Brathwaite told the Lower Chamber the bill would allow lawmen “to protect life and property”, though he maintained that crime in the country had not reached the stage where residents needed to panic. (WILLCOMM)

Please read the full story in today’s Midweek Nation, or in the eNATION edition.