Walcott is first active cop to pen Bajan crime book

A new book detailing major crimes in the South of the island has been published. The 144-page publication, entitled Murders South of Paradise, was penned by Acting Superintendent of Police Roderic Walcott, who is a veteran cop in the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF). The book will be officially launched on December 29 at District “A”.

Walcott, a veteran lawman, is the first active cop to write and publish such a book. During an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, the 53-year-old said he was extremely pleased with his more recent accomplishment.

“I am excited. I am honoured. I want it to be an incentive to other officers to put pen to paper. I think I made a pretty good achievement being the first or one of the first officers that would have authored a book about policing,” he said.

The cop, who spent over 20 years in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), acknowledged that there is plenty of talent in the Force and said he hoped that his book signalled the start of others to come.

“To me, there is a lot of talent within the Royal Barbados Police Force, but a lot goes unnoticed. Officers, unfortunately, believe that a lot of what they may consider doing is out of their reach. I think it might be an opening for officers who might be more articulate than I am. They might be able to get their story out there in a more captivating way than I could. My thing is the opportunity is there, all it takes is some commitment and dedication and anything is possible.”

With 31 years’ experience in the policing profession and having benefited from the tutelage and knowledge of others gone before him, Walcott believes that the vast information about crime fighting must be preserved.

“We have a lot of information in Barbados, especially about policing, investigation and so on. I’ve found that we don’t do a lot of writing. There are a lot of stories to be told. From time to time, I hear officers get together and reminisce about things that happened in the past. There are different and interesting cases, but there was never any written record of these things. The problem we will have is when more of the older guys pass on and there is no one to tell the stories directly,” the officer told Barbados TODAY.

The Acting Superintendent said he started writing the book about five years ago with just one page completed. However, he began to work on it consistently within the last two years. Walcott explained that he has realised that there is a keen interest, among the public, in crime stories.

“I find a lot of people are intrigued with criminal investigations. If you check the number of people who watch CSI and those types of television programmes, it is telling. Sometimes I do lectures at the training school and other institutions, and when I present some of the things we do or can do in forensics, people are amazed that we can do this. They often think it is something they only see on TV. But now, having understood that it can be done, then you hear: ‘I didn’t know Barbados did it here’. ‘I didn’t know we could do this’. I think the book would also make people aware of some of the capabilities of the Force and how we utilize the techniques in an investigation.”

The author said there is something in the book for everyone. “You will get some insight as to how a case moves from point A to B. You will get an idea of how a case is built. How we arrive at a particular suspect. How it turned out at court. How the judicial system is used and how the case is adjudicated. You can follow along some lines as to the gradual progression…

“It also has a technical input as it relates to crime scene investigation and the documentation of the crime scene. There is a small piece of academics explaining certain things. The crime scene enthusiast can get something from a term like triangulation. Also, there is some mention of DNA analysis and why it is unique. There is a bit of everything,” he said.

Walcott explained that certain dynamics of policing have changed over the years. He specifically highlighted how technology has helped. However, he also pointed out that the communities and people’s approach to crime and police have also changed.

“You will always have that anti-police sentiment because there are people hell-bent on doing what they want to do without anyone telling them that they are wrong. The reality is no matter how much hate they may have for us, if or when a situation arises, the people they resort to are the police. Police can’t discriminate notwithstanding how people feel about us. Every case given to us must be investigated. The office of the police is to serve the public. That means all public wherever their location is in Barbados. We say to persons you are once a police but twice a civilian because you were a civilian before you came and you will be after retirement.”

He added: “We have a changing community. We have young people not respecting the law. We got a community where persons are not their neighbour’s keeper as they used to be. People are seeing things and not seeing things. Once upon a time you could walk in a district and people in the district could tell you the strange person that walked through and if they had a burglary, you would know to check that strange person. Now we have people walking through the district and you are getting little information that can assist. The police need some information to drive the investigation.”

Walcott admits that he was always into the military from his days as a cadet at Ellerslie Secondary. From there he moved on to the Barbados Community College (BCC) where he studied Lab Technology and gained an Associate Degree. He later attended John J College of Criminal Justice in New York and received a Bachelor’s in Forensic Science. In 2009, he gained a Master’s Degree in Project Management and Evaluation. Among his other exploits and achievements in 2017, he did a course at the FBI National Academy. He has benefitted from internships at the NYPD Crime Scene Unit and the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory in Long Island, New York.

Over the years he has moved from Sergeant to Station Sergeant to Inspector to Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police in 2017 and since 2018, Acting Superintendent.

The cop said he has seen his fair share of evil over the years, but one case which will forever stay with him was one which involved a child.

“At crime scenes you try to detach yourself, but there was one that touched me in an awful way. I actually had to go back to the office and catch myself for a bit. I sat for about 20 minutes. It involved a child. Three persons were killed. The hope was that the child was not there. But when we found the child, the nature of the injury was so gruesome it caused me to wonder why someone would be so gruesome to an innocent and defenceless child. I had to regain my composure,” he recalled.

Walcott was eager to speak glowingly of all detectives. “Some people don’t understand or appreciate how detectives work. Detectives work sometimes non stop. Some people are of the opinion that in some cases, the police may not be interested in solving the case. The book reflects how diligently police work just to solve a case. We are seen short and almost taken for granted, but I think they [detectives] are a remarkable and committed set of people,” he said of his colleagues. (IMC)