Remigrant accuses police of ‘profiling’

Sep 20, 2008 News

– to file complaint with OPR

Steve Bruce

A remigrant who is setting up a business in his homeland has alleged that he was body searched on Thursday last by police ranks, whom he accused of ‘profiling’ him because he is staying in Agricola.

Steve Bruce, who has lived in the United States for 20 years, said that the ranks who stopped him failed to identify themselves and conducted the operation although he informed them that he was a US citizen.

Bruce said that when he was stopped, his wallet contained a Federal badge, which identifies the holder as a relative of a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

But he believes that the policemen subjected him to the body search because they saw him coming out of Agricola. The community has earned a reputation of being a haven for criminals.

“We call it profiling in the United States and in the United States, profiling can draw a lawsuit,” he said.
“It’s not being searched that was the problem; it’s the manner in which it was done.” Bruce plans to file a formal complaint with the Police’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

The businessman, who returned to Guyana two months ago, explained that he is in the process of setting up a bakery and restaurant in Campbellville, while residing in Agricola.

Bruce told Kaieteur News that he had just left home and was driving north along the East Bank Demerara public road near Houston at around 13:00 hrs on Thursday when a pickup with ranks in blue police uniforms drove alongside him and ordered him to stop.

According to Bruce, the ranks informed him that they were carrying out a routine search. None of them showed any identification, he said.

The businessman said that he co-operated with the lawmen, but then they informed him that he would have to submit to a body search.

He explained that he was carrying a large sum of cash at the time, and because none of the ranks had identified themselves, he was concerned that they might be bandits pretending to be policemen.

“I said that I wasn’t comfortable with that (the body search). I explained to them that I am a US citizen. I had money on me and I have been hearing all sorts of things about Guyana.”

According to Bruce, the ranks responded by telling him that they would have take him into custody and he decided to cooperate.

He said that it was only after they had searched him that the ranks asked to see his passport and other documents, which he proffered. They then drove away.

“I think I was being profiled because I came out of Agricola, and I don’t think that a US citizen returning home should be treated this way,” he said. “The law (regarding police procedure) is universal. Policemen should identify themselves.”

The detention of civilians by police ranks also came under scrutiny last week, with two senior legal officials accusing the Force of operating outside the boundaries of the law with its recent practice of arresting, fingerprinting and photographing civilians.

The officials voiced concern that this treatment is also being meted out to juveniles, who are taken into police custody and questioned without a guardian or lawyer being present.

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