The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A VIRAL video showing a uniformed Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) officer fighting a civilian is now under review by the department’s Internal Affairs Unit.

Prison Commissioner Doan Cleare confirmed to The Tribune that he has seen the footage and is awaiting the unit’s recommendations on the matter.

The footage, which spread rapidly on social media, shows the officer gripping a woman by the hair, repeatedly punching her while both are on the ground. It remains unclear what led to the confrontation, though during the incident, the officer references her son, shouting: “That’s my son,” as she continues hitting the other woman, who appears not to fight back.

A man briefly attempts to separate the pair, but the officer persists.

In a subsequent clip, the officer tries to leave yet still holds onto the civilian’s hair, while the civilian clings to the officer’s clothes. “Let me go,” the officer says, before again knocking the woman down and demanding to be released. “My son is in here,” she said. “Leave my son alone.”