ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government has rejected a proposal that would have allowed for the enactment of special legislation allowing the police to declare a limited state of emergency.
The proposal had come from Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney during an interview earlier this year on the state-owned ABS Radio and Television, in which he had publicly highlighted the potential benefits of this initiative.
Rodney had said that the proposal aimed to enhance crime-fighting measures here, noting that some Caribbean countries, including Belize, Barbados, and Jamaica, have already adopted similar legislation.
The requested changes also encompass authorizing non-lethal tools like mace and taser guns and allowing officer body-cams with their footage considered admissible in court proceedings.
But speaking to reporters following the weekly Cabinet meeting, Ambassador Lionel Hurst, Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, said, “The Cabinet is of the view that in a prominent place like Jamaica, which is 100 times as large as Antigua, you could indeed limit the state of emergency in some particular area that might even be as large as Antigua and Barbuda itself.
“But … just in the discussions, I don’t think there was any support for a limited state of emergency.
“We don’t like it in the first place; this state of emergency because it’s a deprivation of rights during that time, and who wants their rights quashed even for a short period? Nobody,” Hurst said, acknowledging that the use of limited states of emergency has been sparing in Antigua and Barbuda.
He said while the Cabinet acknowledged Commissioner Rodney’s expertise in law enforcement matters, they maintained their reservations about the proposed amendment.
“It isn’t a tool we rely on to ensure social cohesion. We would much rather rely on churches, religion, common sense, and even the threat of arrest,” he added.
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