Is this a way to reduce the crime rate?

Sep 29, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
We are all aware of the fact that there is a rise in the crime rate in our country for which the police should not be held responsible. I have seen police officers on mobile patrols on the roads in Berbice umpteen times on a daily basis and they need to be commended for this, particularly the Commander in charge. Great job officers!

No doubt, we the people in Berbice would feel a sense of security whenever we see those patrols around. However, I observed that a few officers are misusing their purpose of being out there by harassing and causing people much discomfort unnecessarily.

I have seen traffic officers at the Bush Lot area on the Corentyne, like around 20:00 hrs, stopping vehicles and asking for license and documents for the vehicle. I honestly can’t begin to fathom the reason for such routine checks at that hour in the night and how will this help to reduce crimes in Berbice? If a senior officer was present along with other police officers, I would accept that they are carrying out their duties by conducting searches for suspects or criminals but it was not like that.

I strongly feel that those methods will not help to reduce crime. On Saturday August 15, 2015, around 18:30 hours, I stood in front of the Springlands Police Station. I saw four traffic ranks on the road behaving in an unprofessional manner. They were stopping every vehicle demanding licenses and documents for vehicles.

And yes, I did say demanding it. One officer said to a motorcyclist as he was doing a breathylyser test by the road side “blow in this thing quick man”. I heard another officer shouted to a pedal cyclist, “Come, come whey yuh light deh, yuh want ah tek way dis bicycle”. Was this the most appropriate way to speak to those people? Was this the best way of approach? Is this a way to reduce the crime rate? In my opinion, those officers were uncouth.

They as law protectors are sinking the ship of humanity. My concern is that these protectors of the law need to be more professional in the way they approach people as they carry out their daily routines. When a few officers behave in such unprofessional manner it puts the entire Force to be seen as an unprofessional and incompetent one.

As much as the police officers are not responsible for the crimes committed, they need to devise better techniques to tackle crimes in lieu of finding themselves harassing law abiding citizens unnecessarily. I therefore call on the Commander of Berbice to look into these issues and try to correct them as urgent as possible.
Concerned citizen

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