To Protect, Serve and Disrespect With Pride

A student at the St. Joseph’s College in St. Joseph reported to her Principal that $1400.00 was stolen from her bag and was advised by said principal to report the matter to the police. The police were called in and students belonging to the class of the student whose money was allegedly stolen were stripped search by male and female officers respectively. Not being privy to how the actual searches were carried out I cannot say if the officers did it in a demeaning or intimidating manner but some thoughts do come to mind with regard to this whole fiasco.

I first want to address the manner in which searches are conducted by police officers in Trinidad and Tobago. Most police officers in Trinidad and Tobago have no manners....plain and simple. They do not know how to speak to their fellow citizens with respect. I have seen police officers speak to adults as if they were speaking to their own children. In the United States of America for example if you are in a vehicle and a police officer wants to search you, his requests for you to vacate the vehicle usually goes like this “Miss/Sir could you ‘please’ step out of the vehicle?”. Secondly officers in the US ask you to step out of your car if they notice you acting suspiciously, they do not ask you to step out of your vehicle and search you by guess because they get a ‘vibe’ to do it.

I remember once I was sitting in the front seat of a maxi taxi heading out of Diego Martin and there was a police road block in the environs of Powder Magazine. Our maxi was stopped and the police began their ‘selective’ searches...’you come! You Come!’ At the time I was about 22 years old and I remember sitting in the maxi and thinking to myself that something is fundamentally wrong with this procedure. What right does a police officer have to stop a public vehicle or any vehicle for that matter in the absence of a search warrant or any legitimate circumstances such as the search for a known fugitive or a threat to national security, rudely shout at people to vacate the vehicle only to be publicly searched simply because they get a ‘vibe’? Since when is sitting in a maxi heading out of Diego Martin a suspicious act?

Highly annoyed that I was being unnecessarily delayed highly annoyed at having to witness fellow citizens being subjected to such barbaric humiliation I remember sitting in the front seat looking straight ahead, not because I was the least bit intimidated, on the contrary I was firetrucking annoyed at having my Saturday morning rudely interrupted by these uncouth ruffarians in uniform. Low and behold a hand suddenly shoots into the vicinity of my face ‘You come!’ I turn my head nonchalantly at the uniformed pig that barked the order and gave him that look I’m most famous for...the one where I use my eyes alone to tell you what a f***k head I think you are. I considered my options, allow the arse to search me unlawfully or assert my rights and risk being beaten in handcuffs all the way to the pig style (station) to which these animals belong so they can charge me for using ‘obscene language’, even though I didn’t use obscene language as I was too busy shielding blows and stemming the flow of blood from my rude, how dare I declare my rights lips.

I must confess I copped out and took the easy route. My bag was searched and I was patted in public for the first time in my life by a police officer and I must say it is the most humiliating thing ever. Up to this day I have no idea what prompted my search. It’s not to say I was dressed like a ‘bad boy’ and even one's attire, whether dressed like a bad boy or not is not sufficient reason for an officer to search someone because that is blatant discrimination. Even at the age of 17 I never succumbed to peer pressure and indulged in oversize gaudy clothes...straight fitted Levis all the way thank you, I was always conservative that way and my peers accused my pants of being ‘ying’, and I was never one for clothes with big prints. I had on a pair of Levis and a plain t-shirt...so what exactly prompted that officer to call me out for a search?

Honestly before that faithful morning it never occurred to me that simply sitting in a maxi taxi minding my own business on my way to Port of Spain was suspicious activity enough to warrant an officer to search me. And they say we have more rights and freedoms than the people of Cuba? The police service needs to do a complete overhaul on the level of training that is given to officers. Officers must be trained to be seen to be and act as part of the community. Officers must be seen as pillars of respect not pillars of disrespect and champions of bullying tactics. What kind of message is the police service sending to a five year old when an officer pulls over a maxi and shouts out at a passenger ‘You Come!’

My other bone of contention is with these uppity parents of these St. Joseph students and the Parent Teacher Association who seems to represent only one type of class of schools and children. Granted the experience I mentioned above was the first and last time I was searched, as a student I do recall on many occasions making my way home from school or from the library, seeing police officers rough up and strip search students of what may be considered ‘schools of lesser quality’ such as the comprehensives and I do recall that these students would have either been making their way home or waiting for transport. The police would collar these students, clout them and search them in the middle of the road. I remember this one time seeing a female officer ‘bitch slap’ a girl, her head practically did a 360 degree turn.

Not once have I ever heard any head of the Parent Teacher Association speaking out against the police brutally meted out to students attending ‘certain’ schools. But the minute the uptown children are given a little taste of the medicine that is dished out on a daily basis to the downtown students all of a sudden we are hearing about investigations and enquiry into the police’s actions. This is nothing but another blatant example of the gross class discrimination that permeates this rotted society of ours. I also note with much amusement that the Parent Teacher Association does not also see it fit to question why a school pupil will be in possession of $1,400.00, but then again this is uptown people we're talking about here.....who knows it's probably the girl's daily allowance! ©

Standstill Police

What do some police officers in T&T have in common with mannequins? The ability to stand pretty still while simultaneously executing the difficult task of doing absolutely nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I have some friends in the Police Service who are quite passionate about their jobs. There is one female officer I went to school with who is connected to the patrol branch downtown, she is well known on Frederick Street. Missy doh make joke with errant motorists and illegal vendors. I remember once I was walking down Frederick street and I saw her in action dealing with the illegal vendors....can you believe my heart actually went out a little to the vendors.

But the law is the law and it must be upheld. Despite there being officers like my friend mentioned above, there are just too many lazy mediocre police men and women in the service. While I believe criminals should be solely held accountable for their nefarious actions, I believe the overall mediocre performance of T&T’s Police Service plays a significant role in actually boosting the confidence of T&T’s criminals. Criminals commit crimes with the confidence that the police will respond nonchalantly to investigating and apprehending them for their miss-deeds. It is this reluctance of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to deal with minor offenders that is fostering a feeling of comfort amongst the criminals in this country and I have photos to prove such.

Decay in society and the disrespect shown for the rule of law does not begin with violent crime it begins with the committing of and the allowing of small crimes. Small crimes such as littering, speeding, parking badly, drinking and driving are all committed in abundance in this country and certain police officers are notorious for turning a blind eye to their practice. As a matter of fact, dealing with petty offenders in New York City was one of the ways that city was able to turn around its rising crime rate. Dealing with petty offenders prevented them from branching off to becoming seasoned offenders. Regular road blocks and dealing with reckless drivers and persons committing other petty transgressions was also one of the ways New York City was able to apprehend some of their seasoned criminals as seasoned criminals are often repeat offenders of petty crimes.

This week I was having lunch with a friend upstairs Excellent City Centre, and we were sitting at the outer balcony were you have an overhead view of Fredrick Street. Low and behold there was this black car parked directly in front of a fire hydrant and two ‘stand still’ police officers standing outside Aboutique Mall in full view of this clear breach of the law. According to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act it is unlawful to park within three (3) metres of a fire hydrant, but here is this motorist parked directly in front of a fire hydrant in full view of T&T’s finest who do absolutely nothing.

My friend and I were upstairs Excellent Stores for approximately forty five minutes and those officers stood there for close to 20 minutes before walking away leaving the vehicle still on spot. So if there was a fire and the Fire Services had to utilize that hydrant what would have been the situation? If I were the Fire Officer I know the answer, the hose was passing straight over that vehicle scratching paint job and windscreen! When our law enforcement officers fail to even address little transgressions like these on a daily basis what they are indirectly doing is espousing the chronic lawlessness currently plaguing our society. I do hope that the senior police officers take note of this mediocrity that persists amongst its rank and file and addresses it in an appropriate manner.