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The police and the wrap

Mar 21, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Guyana Police Force needs to improve its decision-making and communication with the public if it is to enjoy greater respect. The recent decision of the police in ‘A’ Division to haul in vehicles wrapped in fabric is a case in point.
Many mini-bus owners have over the past year begun to have their buses “wrapped” in a fabric which can be designed in whatever pattern the owners’ desire. The finished product looks impressive, as if the bus has had a multi-coloured spray-paint job. The wrapping of buses has added colour and creativity to public transportation.
The police, instead of admiring the new technology, are more interested in arguing that the owners are in breach of the law. So they begin to harass the minibus drivers, claiming that the buses have departed from the colour scheme which is noted on their registration documents.
The solution to this problem would be for the owners to simply make an application to change the description of the colour on their buses on their registration. But this presents something of a dilemma, since most of the “wrapped” buses display a riot of colours.
If the police were so concerned about the breaches of the law, they could have simply issued an advisory demanding that those in breach take the necessary steps to put themselves in order, which would have meant applying for a change of colour on their registration documents. But that is not how the police in Guyana operate. They feel they have the power to take action and they prefer to prosecute rather than try to give persons a chance to right whatever wrongs they commit. It is not hard to ascertain why the police decision-making is so warped.
It had to take a protest from the bus drivers for the police to back down from their decision to pull in the buses. The excuse that the police came up with was that it was not fair for only the buses in ‘A’ Division to be prosecuted.
Trendy designs and paint jobs on vehicles are the wave of the present and the future. Our laws have to be adapted to accommodate these trends. The wrapped minibuses are an attractive sight. Once the designs are registered with the GRA, the buses should be allowed in their creative colours.
There was no need for the police to act in the manner that they did. They could have issued an advisory before deciding to act.
The traffic situation in the city and on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara is becoming chaotic. The police have been trying their best to bring some order. Ranks are deployed during peak hours to help direct and supervise traffic. The problem is that the police have to contend with a high level of indiscipline by motorists. At busy junctions which are manned by traffic ranks during peak hours, motorists know that the traffic ranks cannot leave their posts, directing traffic, to pull them over for any offence, and so they blatantly commit the offence in the face of the traffic ranks.
One of the most common offences committed is the practice of vehicles using the turning lanes when in fact they are not turning. There is nothing that the rank directing traffic can do, because he/she cannot leave his/her post. This is one of the reasons why at certain junctions where this practice is prevalent, two ranks should be dispatched. The first rank would direct the traffic while the second rank would ensure there are no violations.
These are things which one would have expected the traffic authorities to address, had there been proper supervision of ranks. The police have a lot of improvement to make. There will soon be a new commissioner who must leave his or her mark. A good way to begin is in the decision-making sphere.

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