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Leslie James – A Fair and Fearless Commissioner of Police
Dear Editor,
I write with regards to a recent online article in which the Police Force has decided to prosecute owners of non-emergency vehicles, who decide to utilize sirens and flashing strobes to their personal benefit and entertainment.
Earlier in February, there was a bomb scare at Mae’s School in Subryanville which my children attend. I recall the horror of receiving the call from their teacher mere minutes after dropping them off and kissing them goodbye. As any concerned parent, I drove as fast as my vehicle permitted in an effort to get my children to safety.
En route to their school, I heard the ever familiar and distinct police horn/siren behind my vehicle. While my paternal instinct prodded to drive with urgency, my moral instinct instructed me to pull over to the left to allow the “emergency vehicle” to pass. It is with shock and anger on observation of the passing vehicles that I noticed that the “emergency vehicle” in police mode were actually two black F150 pickup trucks with tint so dark that even a black hole pales in comparison. It would appear that these vehicles were on the same mission as I was, which was to uplift their children, since the vehicles were later seen in front of the school.
I proceeded to uplift my children, as this was the most important thing to me at that point in time, but my anger and need to justify my assumption that the two pickup trucks were not state-owned emergency vehicles led me to the gates of Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.
My request to meet with the Commissioner without an appointment was truly remarkable. He agreed to see me even though he was scheduled to travel within a few hours and listened attentively to my concern. I recall his promise to look into the issue, as he was clear that the force does not operate such luxurious vehicles and further has not granted any non-emergency vehicle such permission to operate strobes/sirens and such for their private use and entertainment.
Guyanese including myself have long lost their ability to hold leaders accountable and in this same regard have lost the ability to recognize public officers who discharge their duties without fear or favor, regardless of the influence or clout of the offender.
In my humble view, Mr. James could have very well treated this as another small issue not worthy of his precious time, but rather, he has the efficiency and vision of a true leader to fix the small issues knowing full well that this is the path towards correcting the major societal lawlessness plaguing our nation.
I wish Commissioner James a successful tenure and am sure that he is on the path of securing a legacy within his organisation of being a fair and fearless leader.
Sincerely
C. Persaud
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