Police chief hits back
Saturday 17th July 2010, 2:59PM BST.
Graham Power who retires as police chief next week
Police chief Graham Power has hit back following allegations that he mismanaged his deputy, Lenny Harper, and the historical child abuse inquiry.
In a 3,000-word rebuttal published today in his own words, Mr Power says that the abandonment of the disciplinary case against him means that he should, by law, be presumed innocent.
• Read his answers to questions put by the Jersey Evening Post in Saturday’s paper, as well as an interview with Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand
Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.
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Keep at it Graham and as a northerner I am so proud of your determination to correct any wrongs.
The truth must out,for your sake and that of victims of abuse.Too many cover ups over the years to save Jersey boys.
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Surely the only reason no action is being taken against Mr. Power is because of his imminent retirement. I believe the legal term is ‘res ipsa loquitur’Mr. Power’s negligence speaks for itself. (Donald Pond will no doubt correct me if I am wrong).
The faux pas that was the H de la G investigation,
would ordinarily not occur without someone’s negligence. The soon to be retired Chief Officer must have had vicarious liability.
Technically innocent until proven guilty – yes. However in this case a considerable number of people won’t believe this is true, including many cops involved in the investigation.
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It should be very telling whether or not ILeM takes up the request from Mr Power to make public his full response to all this.
Fairness and balance dictate that he should do this, but I doubt he will. In the absence of Mr Power’s words we can only assume there are matters included in that statement that Mr Le Marquand would wish us not to be privy to.
Until then I will still have more belief in our ex Police Chief than our Home Affairs Minister.
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#2 – No need to wait for Donald Pond to correct you – I’ll do it for you.
Senator Le Marquand had the Wiltshire report for 18 months – if the whole document was as damning as the selected 30% given to the acredited media, then please explain why he didn’t act sooner with Mr Power’s disciplinary hearing.
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will some one from the press please ask mr power why someone who kept saying he was so concerned with the victims would send the e mail with a so called joke when at the time he lead us to believe their could be a dead child i find this very sick. if you read this mr power please let us know.
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Power states in his published rebuttal today in the JEP, that the “victims have been pushed into the background for decades by a legal and political system which was not user-friendly to their class and background”.Is this not a political statement from someone whom knows that police officers are bound not to make such political statements and alliances and yet he seeks to deny this in the rest of his statement? He refers to those who have made allegations of abuse as ‘victims’, echoing that continued prejudicial verbage by Harper and clearly does not recognise that this term is both prejudicial and dangerous. For, when used in this context, the word ‘victim’ inevitably conveys a presumption of veracity about complaints while simultaneously abandoning the presumption of innocence to which all defendants are entitled.
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Mr Power dont waste your time in offering sound bites to the JEP or Channel TV as they will only print what they want to print and certainly wont print anything positive!
Personally I hope that you & Lenny Harper get together and write a book about not just Haut de la Garenne but also the shenanigans at Jersey Police and variety of cover ups. I would love to read it!
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Many years ago,I dealt with an alleged historical child abuse case where the offender had connections with to so called establishment. There was obstruction from a minority of the Island’s elite, but the Crown Officers were very supportive and the case went ahead.
Mr. Power said “Victims have been pushed into the background for decades by a legal and political system which was not user-friendly to their class and background”. This comment has a grain of truth in it, as there were a very few renegade Centeniers, who tried to throw a spanner in the works. However, when these problems were reported to the A.G. or S.G. offenders were always brought to court and convictions obtained.
Jersey’s judicial system is by no means perfect, but then neither is the system in England and Wales – or elsewhere come to that.
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Realist what TOSH speak to the victims here there appalling statements, they have not got justice people like you are really sad the cover up continues
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Gary # 4. I’d prefer Donald Pond’s advice on the legal term.
I don’t think we need to see all of the Wiltshire report to realise there was poor management of the H de la G case, though I agree it would have been useful / interesting, to have seen the entire document.
Maybe the redacted version had classified material taken out, material that would have damaged future investigatoins – who knows?
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The voice 5.
Some events are clearly sad and not occasions for laughter. However, even in the unhappiest of circumstances, a little humour or a joke can provide respite from distressing emotions. Therefore, this man’s ‘case-hardened’ humour probably shifted his perspective and created a psychological distance which helped him avoid feeling overwhelmed.
We should not forget that smiles (I’m sure no-one was rolling on the floor in fits of laughter at a HdlG joke) lighten our burdens and enable us to stay focused…even after the smiles fade.
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born warrior no 11 i would like to think that you would say the same thing if you were one of the victims but some how i dont think you would.also what would you think if one of the states ministers had written it sometimes you have to look at the big picture not be blinded by a one sided view.
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It is only the Jersey way of doing things Mr Power Take one ex hobby judge and asks him to rubbish the head of police and there you have it. Let’s not forget the part others have taken in this increasing cock up. One chief Minister one Health Minister one Bailiff one Advocate General. Almost forgot what about the other fifty one sheep being led by the snout. I will say to you Mr Power go and enjoy your retirement and forget this backward little back water unless you have your pot of gold stashed in one of Jersey’s many Banks
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Jean the bean # 13. Having worked in a number of jurisdictions around the world, I am able to make comparisons of criminal justice systems in different countries. None of these were perfect, but I don’t believe you’ll find that Jersey’s system is the worst.
In my experience I had no problem getting child abuse cases to court in the Island. I can only recall one occasion where a politician tried to put his oar in, but he was ignored and the case went ahead.
There was invariably involvement by the Crown Officers and they were always helpful and courteous (I owe no allegiance to these people and no longer reside in Jersey). The only problems I encountered were with a minority of Centeniers and one of these even declined to follow the instructions of the Attorney General. The case went ahead nevertheless.
I think Messrs Power and Harper’s criticism of the Criminal Justice System, is for the most part, unfounded. Maybe it was the way they approached their task – I have always found it easier to catch bees with honey and not vinegar.
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I don’t know if I would have said the same thing if I had been one of the HdlG victims. However, I know for sure that had the author been different (e.g. Minister), my opinion would have been the exact same.
Unfortunately, tragicomic HdlG quips were not uncommon during the period in question. Personally, I didn’t and still don’t find them at all funny but, I realise, it’s only human to make fun of tragedy and what we secretly fear.
Over the years, I’ve heard people make clever, witty remarks prompted by even the saddest of circumstances. I have also listened to more than one sadly-comic funeral speech. And, I can assure you, no-one walked away from the Service believing that the witty quips had brought the deceased back to life and that all was well. Nonetheless, most of those present were quite grateful for a moment of relief from the sombreness. You see, humour (even black humour) creates the psychological distance we need on such occasions.
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the voice 12.
My post 15 is in reply to yours (12).
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Born Warrior # 15. It is still conduct unbecoming of an officer – particularly a Chief Officer. He should have been more circumspect.
I am sure if a member of the public complained about a Police Constable’s black humour, Messrs Power and Harper would have taken him or her to task. It seems to be a case of don’t do as I do, do as I say.
Mr. Power was ‘flying a desk’ and didn’t have to witness any gory scenes (there weren’t any in the first place), so there can be no justification for his joke.
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Bumper 17.
You are right, Mr Power didn’t have to witness gory scenes, but what about his vision of what he believed had happened. Sometimes our minds are capable of creating a picture far worse than reality.
I, for example, was horrified when I first heard about the whole affair. I imagined harmless little children crying out for help (with no-one there to save them)…heartbreaking imaginary scenes which upset me greatly.
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no18 ifind your answer to no 17 only supports my orignal question if his vision was what you say i repeat how could he make a joke of it i am afraid you counter your own argument.the man was a senior officer who should at least say sorry to the victims .
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Born Warrior # 18. Police Officers and particularly senior police officers, aren’t supposed to let their imaginations run away with them. They are supposed to make decisions based on facts that they perceive for themselves, where there is solid evidence.
Sorry, but I believe you are defending the indefensible – there can be no excuse for the e-mail relating to suspected buried victims.
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the voice 19.
I do not counter my own argument, as I said:
it’s only human to make fun of what we SECRETLY FEAR.
Bumper
Re:Police officers are supposed to make decisions based on facts…”
Yes, and adult carers are supposed to look after and care for innocent children…but obviously (in some cases) they don’t!
Read more: http://www.thisisjersey.com/2010/07/17/police-chief-hits-back-2/#ixzz0uDkXFNjk
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Bumper & the voice (sounds like a pop duo!)
I’m not defending the undefensible, I am defending humour.
Jokes are often race, religion, class, appearance or gender dominated. and are mainly based on uncomfortability and embarassment. Therefore, we should consider ‘humour’ as a means of surviving what we consider to be distateful, difficult or even a threat (remember all the Bin Laden jokes after 9/11?).
At one time or another, we have all joked about what shouldn’t have been joked about…and laughed! So, we should never condemn humour, because it is a crime most of us are guilty of.
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re the ‘joke’ email.
I understand that the entire email was NOT published by the media or recited by ILM. Had it been then the context would likely have been seen differently.
It is one thing to make a joke about something so serious, it is another thing entirely to report in an email that such jokes are going around.
Unfortunately ILM seems to have deliberately redacted the essential and contextual part of that email, which gives it a wholly different colour.
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Born Warrior # 22. We will just have to agree to disagree.I enjoy humour too and mostly laugh at myself. Making jokes about suspected victims of abuse is inappropriate.
I imagine Mr. Power now regrets his indiscretion, I know I would if had made such an error.
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Bumper 24
Making jokes about race, religion, class, appearance, gender, retarded people and 9/11 is inappropriate too, but that’s what people do…and most of us laugh.
As I said earlier, it’s simply a means of surviving what we secretly fear, don’t understand or consider to be distasteful/embarassing.
Obviously, I have no idea what was going on inside Mr. Power’s head when he wrote that email, but I know one thing, he’s only human. So yes, you’re right, we’ll have to agree to disagree. However, it was nice talking to you, even though it was an awkward topic.
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