Secret service, public good

Mr Brady with wife Claudia, young son Tavon, and
older sons Troy (left) and Boris 

Mr Brady, the new attorney-at-law

Dennis Brady is called to the Bar in 2001 

Dennis Brady in his office

Wednesday,  February 22, 2006

A much more mobile instrument than the piano – which his mother and brothers played, Dennis Brady was happy to learn the accordion from his father, who was a lay-Baptist preacher, as it was his ticket to seeing new places.

Born in Lime Tree Gardens in the parish of St Ann he was able to leave his home and not only see the rest of the island, but hear about places overseas from the missionaries that he met while visiting the various churches in his country, who would talk about their work in other territories.

This was how the young Dennis – still less than ten years old – first heard of the Cayman Islands. Little did he know that one day, he would leave Jamaica, and that Cayman would become his home.

Mr Brady – now attorney-at-law, Deputy Chief Immigration Officer, and, former member of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) CID – is 54 years old, and childhood memories are still very clear.

Born into a family of nine-seven boys and two girls, Mr Brady lived the very active life that children from large families usually enjoy.

From his membership in the Wiz-Wheels bicycle group – boys who got scrap frames and saved to purchase rims and other parts to make complete bicycles – to representing York Castle High School on the football field, his youth was fun.

“After school I would earn money for my bicycle by working in the cane field, carting water that was used to mix the solution for spraying the cane,” Mr Brady explained.

But, at the same time, his parents had their own influence. He recalled how much he learned about pride in one’s vocation from his Dad, and about his own future career as a policeman. “Dad was also a tax assessor and a well-respected, prominent figure in the community. Without much by way of formal education he was a very bright man,” he said.

“His job was to calculate a tax, which sellers in the market would have to pay, based on the amount of goods they brought for sale. I also remember that I really decided from kindergarten age that I wanted to do policing. I remember seeing traffic policemen.

“But I also remember putting a red elastic band around my head and riding my bicycle through the house. This would annoy my older sister if I did I it while she was cleaning the house. However my father would say, ‘Leave him, maybe that is what he wants to be in life’.”

Mr Brady described his Mom who was a musician. 

“Because of her, we had an organ at home. Almost all my siblings play an instrument and even now I have brothers that still play piano, saxophone and guitar.”

However, laughing a bit, Mr Brady added, “My mother was the sharp one though. I think I inherited my investigative skills from her. She had an uncanny ability to find out anything that was happening to us.”

Today, his office is decorated with many awards and certificates. These include ones for “20 years dedicated service to the people and Government of the Cayman Islands,” another from the US Department of Justice for Drug Enforcement Training, and, yet another from the US Department of Justice for International Criminal Investigative Training in Kidnapping and Extortion. 

Also included are his Bachelors of Law’s degree – which he received in 1996 – and his membership in the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, when he was called to the bar in 2001. However, as Mr Brady explained, these achievements did not come easily.

“When I joined the Jamaica Constabulary Police Force on 23 December 1973, I was not looking for a job. I went in search of fulfilling a passion to investigate crime.”

One of the many stories Mr Brady related was when he was being interviewed for a post in the RICPS ten years later, in 1983 which demonstrates his commitment. 

“At what I thought was the end of the interview Mr Lake, the interviewer, said that I had left off mentioning one important thing. I thought very hard and then I said that I did not know what he was talking about. At that point he said, “You have not asked us how much we are going to pay you.”

Before entering the Police Force Mr Brady worked at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“One of my major discoveries then was that the salary of an officer, who was deceased for 15 years, was still going to the bank.”

Mr Brady also worked for a while with the credit investigation bureau. 

“Even though that was a rough time, what with having to work without a car, I saw it as preparation for becoming a policeman, because that job also exposed me to the court system,” Mr Brady said.

Still too young to become a policeman when he first took the test, Mr Brady settled for being a cadet in the interim.

However, when he finally entered, his memories of his first six months of training at Port Royal were only of tough physical work, lack of sleep because of studying and other duties.

However, all this formed the firm basis for his recruitment straight into the Intelligence Service, based on his academic performance.

In Jamaica some of his many portfolios included work in the Undercover Protection Unit for visiting heads of state, a position with the Hunts Bay CID, the Homicide Squad and the Flying Squad – which handled kidnappings, bank robberies and other major serious crimes, anywhere in the island that team was needed working with the best drivers and the very cream of the crop of the police force. 

“That squad moulded my crime fighting and investigating skills,” he said. “When I decided to leave the force in Jamaica, I had applied to forces throughout the Caribbean and then was about to take off to Canada for a one-month break when Cayman responded.”

Mr Brady moved up the ranks in the RCIPS to head up CID operations and then was appointed Chief Inspector. In 1991 when the Government presented the opportunity for him to do a Diploma in legal studies, one of the instructors encouraged him to go even further and do the full degree.

Paying his own way, while working, Mr Brady completed his degree and was even the recipient of the Sweet Maxwell Law Prize for academic achievement.

One of the many highlights of his career in the RCIPS was the first CNB Bank robbery, for which he received a “High Commendation” award, with the recovery of the money. 

“The interesting thing about that robbery was that the robbers hid money on what was then swamp land, and that is the same site on which the current CNB building stands,” said Mr Brady.

“When the Deputy Chief Immigration Officer post was advertised, my wife encouraged me to go after it…which is equally challenging. However, I remain a member of the Special Constabulary unit because I still feel as if there is more of a mission for me to complete.”

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