Police Bullying

Sep 15, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor
Please allow me space in your paper to have two of my experiences with police made public. Let me first say that I am not writing about the treatment I received at the hands of police to embarrass any and neither am I targeting any police rank. I am simply relating what the police do because they do it all the time and to anyone. And they get away with it.
Just minutes ago I was listening to my friend and colleague give vent, on Social Media, to his anger because he was stopped by a police rank on the road and NOT told by said police why he was stopped and I felt compelled to have my say.
On Friday August 24, 2018 about 8.50pm I was stopped at Vigilance at a “roadblock”. No ‘goodnight’, no ‘please’ was offered to me. I was told to produce my driver’s licence. I must let the public know this because it is our right. A policeman must tell you why he has stopped you.
I asked the rank why he stopped me and he simply said he wanted to see my driver’s licence. I refused to give it to him.
An inspector came over to me and said ‘pull in the compound’. Again I asked why and boldly the inspector said my window is too dark because of the tint–the same thing that Ryan Crawford had to put up with earlier today.
Our rights are being destroyed by a few of those who wear uniforms and are trying to show how much they know. Mind you I will also agree that my friend and colleague lost his ‘cool’ and blurted out some expletives that weren’t in order. I did not.
This Inspector told me to pull into the compound at Vigilance and I did.
Mr. Editor, I had just got off a plane at the CJIA after a six-hour delay in departing from Toronto and had to go to Berbice. I told the inspector all of that and he simply told me to drive into the compound because the tint on my car was too dark.
I drove into the compound and after I told the constable my name he went to the inspector and returned to my car and told me to drive out. I had to and so I did. I asked the inspector why he stopped me and this fool said, ‘I have the power to stop and search any car I want”.
They do it all the time and so I went through with the whole episode to see how it would have ended. I was sent out because the inspector knew I was an MP. Had that not been known I would have had to remain there for a very long time and they would have gone on to remove the tint from my car.
Here is my Sunday night, big Amazon Warriors victory night, September 9, 2018 experience.
I was in a car, driven by my nephew, heading home to Berbice, after watching one of the hottest cricket matches ever, when we were stopped by a police in a pickup, just before we approached Enmore. This was about 11.pm and all those who know me know that I do not drink alcohol. I will say that my nephew also does not drink alcohol.
My nephew wound his window down and spoke to the police rank who was driving. His pick-up was stopped beside our car. Just like the raving lunatic wearing an inspector’s uniform, who stopped me on August 24, 2018, this madman asked, ‘Where you goin’? My nephew simply said, ‘Berbice’.
This jackass in uniform said, ‘You have to do a breathalyzer so drive back to Vigilance’.
Please Mr. Commissioner, Mr. Minister of Public Security, and anyone out there —what is going on?? I had to say and/or do something so I told my nephew not to turn the car around. He was going to do it!!
I then told the rank that he should have his Breathalyzer with him and also asked why he wanted my nephew to blow in one. All this man said was, ‘Drive to Vigilance’. I told him we are not going to Vigilance. Then it started to rain. He demanded the driver’s licence and I told my nephew to wind the window up. The window of the pickup was still down and he signalled us to go.
We headed home to Berbice.
Mr. Editor, this is what the public has to put up with and my experiences are not new and not peculiar to me alone. Other road users have to put up with the garbage dished out by ranks on the roads. For what purpose and to achieve what?
There are roadblocks in Regions Five and Six that are permanent and yet not one day was I ever told why I was being stopped every time my car drove by those roadblocks. The police in these regions know me and I must say that I have always been treated with great smiles and friendly faces but I still say that ranks stopping people on the roads must be knowledgeable and polite
Someone do something to stop the exhibition of police bullyism and ignorance on our roads. Please!!!!
Respectfully
Charrandass Persaud (MP)

Editor’s note: The policeman did sayto Mr Ryan Crawford that he could not see the driver of the vehicle.

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