As promised by the Minister of National Security, Marvin Dames, the Review Committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Veteran, Petty Officer Philip Perpall has been given their mandate and will begin their injury with immediate effect.
The committee which comprises of four former Law Enforcement Officers include Chair of the committee, Retired Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson; Former Commodore of the Defence Force, Roderick Bowe; former head of the Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, Retired Superintendent, Douglas Hanna and former Police Sergeant, turned attorney,Paul Jones.
“We announce the establishment of a Review Committee to investigate the circumstances of the breaches that took place at Government House during the untimely death of Petty Officer, Perpall.
“They have been given the full backing of the government to look into the circumstances surrounding this entire incident; how this individual would have been able to bypass all security and made his was on to the premises of Government House to carry out this act.
“This is of particular importance to us,” Mr. Dames said.
The minister said the committee has been mandated to conduct its investigation over the next two months, following which a report will be given of their findings.
“It is hoped that at the end of this two month period, the committee would report to us the findings with recommendations for improvement.
“This will go hand in hand with some of the work that we’ve been doing for a while now looking at security at government buildings and key places throughout the country.
“And so, this is, as I’ve said before an eminently qualified committee and I am very confident that at the end of the day, they will produce a report that will help us as we move forward in securing our public places,” Mr. Dames said.
Perpall was gunned down while on duty in the guard house on Government House Grounds on Sunday April 28.
According to police around 2:30am a man entered the guard house, opened fired on the Guard Commander Perpall, hitting him multiple times to the upper body before fleeing the scene.
Last Friday, a 34-year-old fellow RBDF officer, Jevon Seymour was charged with the crime.
