Police's treatment of female citizen needs to be investigated

Last night (Monday) I saw a video clipping on TV6's U Report showing police officers arresting a young lady on Ariapita Avenue and if anything this video did was show the total lack of professionalism of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, their abject ignorance and lack of commonsense. The video clearly showed the young lady claiming she did not refuse to take the breathelzyer test so why was she arrested? She did not use obscene language, was clearly not drunk and certainly did not pose a threat to the public. I therefore have a few questions for Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs.

1) Did these police officers read this young woman her rights?

2) Did they inform the young woman of the reason for detaining her?

3) Did the police have reason to believe that under this State of Emergency this young woman is a gang member or had criminal intent or posed a threat to the state?

4) Why did a male police officer attempt to roughly handle a female citizen despite the presence of a female officer?

5) Why did the male officer insist on attempting to roughly handle a female citizen despite her objections to him putting his hands on her?

6) Why is a female citizen wearing a skirt and high heels treated in such an inhumane and degrading manner by being made to 'cock up' in the back of a police vehicle?

7) Is the police so void of commonsense that they could not logically deduce that they should have put this young lady in the back seat of the police vehicle?

Only in an uncivilized third world country would a young lady be treated in such a disgraceful and degrading manner, even male suspects are placed in the interior of police vehicles in developed countries. Good luck in implementing your 21st century policing plan Commissioner Gibbs but from this video alone, I can tell that retraining these "thugs in blue uniform" is going to be a colossal challenge. I do not envy you.

Creating Opportunity

Being interviewed by TV6 news on Carnival Monday Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert lamented the fact that citizens of this democratic country were not taking the advice of the police with regards the wearing of jewellery. He went on to state that the police specifically told citizens to not come into the city wearing their jewellery as this would create ‘opportunities’ for criminals. At flittering consideration Mr. Philbert’s recommendation might seem practical and therefore we may be quick to say ‘it good for dem’ should anyone be robbed of their gold chain on Carnival Monday or Tuesday, however that would be a fatal mistake and gross perversion of our democratic freedoms.

As citizens living in a democratic country it is our fundamental right to purchase and wear jewellery and other luxuries when and wherever we choose without having the fear or concern of creating opportunities for criminals. When a Police Commissioner could come on national television and make such empty statements it makes citizens feel more insecure, legitimizes criminal activity and holds the victim of a crime accountable for someone else’s callous actions.

If we are to go by Mr. Philbert’s logic then I can only conclude some of the following:-

•Pretty soon the police will be issuing travel advisories to tourists telling them to stay away from Trinidad & Tobago as their presence would create an opportunity for criminals.

•Citizens will be told not to drive into the city with their vehicles as this would create an opportunity for the criminals to steal them.

•Citizens will be told not to buy houses as this would create an opportunity for criminals to break into them.

•Citizens will be told not to wear nice clothes as this would give the impression that they have money and create the opportunity for criminals to rob them.

The point I am making is there will always be ‘opportunity’ for criminal minds. Truth be told, the successful lives of ordinary working class people in this country is by itself a lucrative opportunity for criminal minds who prefer not to work but instead choose to live off of hard working law abiding citizens. Criminals are committed to being the human parasites going so far as to killing their victims for their property. If one were to consider the vast majority of murders in 2009 not many of the victims were adorned in lavish gold jewellery and many were killed in their homes. I think the Commissioner’s time would be better spent on improving the efficacy of his men and enhancing the disgustingly low detection rate of the rubble he presides over known as the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

Mr. Philbert’s unfortunate statement is a just reflection of the dismal intellect emanating from the underperforming craniums of those charged with the responsibility of governing this country whose ideas and thought processes are completely void of any modernity. As far as they are concerned everything that goes wrong in this country is the citizen’s fault. The only solution now is for us as a nation to ‘create the opportunity’ for political and social innovation by removing the old political guards who are determined to keep us entrapped in a vacuum of mediocrity and psychological underdevelopment.

To protect, serve and pilfer with pride.

Honestly...............what more can be said? I guess the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is entering the new year with a new and improved motto.

Subway Wins Round 1

I’m pleased to announce that Subway Trinidad Limited has won round one and thus retained me as a customer. Below is a caustic complaint I sent to Subway International @ www.subway.com, a complaint which stemmed from the poor service I received at Subway St James on Sunday 1 November 2009. What basically happened was the manager at that branch was selling spotted wilted old lettuce and passing it off as legitimate healthy lettuce.

I sent that email to Subway International around 9:30 pm and by 4:00 pm today (Monday) I received a phone call from a Ms. Bain who profusely apologise for the situation. Ms. Bain was quite pleasant and indicated to me that she actually does not see my complaint as a ‘complaint’ but as positive feedback as sometimes they may lose a customer and not know why so she was grateful that I took the time to address the issue that affected me.

Ms. Bain also confirmed my suspicions that the lettuce that was being served at this branch was in fact not to be served. She explained to me that the lettuce (Iceberg) is actually delivered from the US and sometimes ‘inevitably’ they may get a bad shipment (This I can totally understand), however she indicated and as I would have expected, whenever a branch receives a bad shipment of lettuce they are in fact supposed to return it to the supplier and not serve it to the end customer. Ms. Bain even gave me her mobile number (I suspect it’s a company phone but that’s beside the point) and told me if ever I should have any more problems at any branch I can feel free to call her and have the matter addressed. I will also be provided with vouchers for free subways as compensation for the terrible service I received. So hats off to the customer service at Subway I feel quite satisfied with the manner in which the issue was dealt. If ever any of you hard working Trinibagonians who like to ensure you get value for money should get any bad service from Subway....report them to the international branch at www.subway.com.

The service I received at that St. James branch is another example of poor customer service in this country. And I just want to say that the problem is not only on the side of business owners it is also on the side of consumers because consumers do not know their rights. While I was in the line complaining about the lettuce there were two young women behind me who were laughing at me, apparently in Trinidad and Tobago once you stand up for your rights you are the joke of the day. While cashing I noticed that the girl who attended to me applied copious amounts of brown lettuce to the sandwiches of those two laughing goons....much to their delight....apparently they are unable to tell the difference between spoilt and healthy lettuce. I’m the one who had the last laugh though, because now I have vouchers to receive free subways and all it cost me was an email to the right department. Bless!

The Complaint

Good evening, I would like to express my dissatisfaction at the level of service I received from the above branch (St James). Now I do realise that you guys are an international franchise but I would like to think that those who choose to represent you should do so in a manner that does not tarnish the image of your company. That said, I visited the above branch of Subway and noticed that the lettuce in the vegetables display were wilted and had lots of brown spots on it. I asked one of the workers to speak to the manager who incidentally was the person taking the orders, so I enquired of the status of the lettuce because apart from looking totally unappealing to the eye it looked quite rotten.

The manager to my surprise told me that the lettuce is "Iceberg" lettuce and that is how it comes. Now...nothing annoys me more than people trying to take me for an idiot, I purchase iceberg lettuce all the time from our local supermarket and I've never seen any with wilted leaves and brown spots and this is iceberg lettuce shipped from the US to our country! Clearly the manager thinking that because I'm a local I wouldn't know what iceberg lettuce looks like...attempts to hoodwink me so they can sell me their rotted lettuce.

The other assistant then proceeds to dress my sandwich with the same wilted spotted lettuce and when I asked her to take out the ones with the brown spots and wilted leaves she was more annoyed than I! This is nothing but third world customer service and totally unacceptable. It is disgraceful that these people are willingly selling the public of Trinidad and Tobago rotten vegetables with their subway sandwiches. According to this following website www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Iceberg.html it clearly states that one ought to avoid Iceberg lettuce or any lettuce for that matter that are wilted and has brown spots. I respectfully request that you submit this link to the owners of the Trinidad branch of subway so that they will know what healthy lettuce looks like and that they will also know that the citizens of Trinidad are not idiots...we know what healthy lettuce looks like as well.

Best Regards,
Oke Zachary