Mr. Paul Slowe should sue the State if he feels aggrieved and not engage in wild theatrics

Oct 26, 2021 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

I write to share my legal views with you in respect of a letter appearing in the Kaieteur News edition, Oct 24 2021, captioned THE LAW IS THE LAW & MUST BE RESPECTED AT ALL TIMES, written by one Neil Adams.
It briefly relates a rather well-advocated story that Mr. Paul Slowe, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Guyana Police Force, being arrested by SOCU and during the episode, scolds the police for doing their job, which the writer makes his point that Mr. Slowe should not be doing so, and by doing so, he is just going to make himself a laughing stock.
Editor, the letter touched on the topic of the right of a Guyanese police officer to arrest an individual. As a former criminal defense lawyer in two jurisdictions for about 17 years, and as a practising family lawyer myself, and one who always strive to keep abreast of the law in our modern world, I wish to applaud Mr. Neil Adams for his thoughtful letter. I also wish to say that a trained Guyana Police Force police officer has a wide discretion to use when performing duties, and when deciding to arrest someone in Guyana. One can get arrested en route to boarding a plane at CJIA, even while in the company of his or her children and other family member; or even after boarding one, and seated among the passengers therein, and ready for takeoff. One can be taken off the plane, and also one can be arrested out of the jurisdiction with the collaboration of INTERPOL.
The right of a law enforcement official to arrest is wide, and surely it isn’t a privilege. This is clearly stated as the law under Section 16 of the Police Act Cap. 16:01. Maybe Mr. Paul Slowe, doesn’t remember how in Georgetown, our Garden City, persons like the current Attorney-General, the current President, and other prominent societal figures, have in the past been arrested by police officers, locked up at Brickdam, and made to face the court.
Over the decades in our beloved Guyana, similar incidents of persons being arrested in our society have been reported in the media. Some were senior counsels, parliamentarians and other State Officials serving as Ministers or Shadow Ministers, magistrate or former magistrate, all having been done so legally by a police officer. I even heard of Parliamentarian, Juan Edgill, being arrested by law enforcement people in the Parliament yard.
Mr. Slowe choosing to make a point against the law of arrest being applied in his case, he should have known better, as one time in his profound and dynamic career, he was a law enforcement commander of hundreds of police officers, who arrested thousands of citizens. One ought to know that if one lives by the sword, one can die by the sword as well.
I must say that I heard that even the learned former Judge, Mr. William Ramlall, now head of the Police Complaints Authority, based at Brickdam, Georgetown, has been reported by media operatives that the Guyana police usually arrest us Guyanese first and ask questions later. The learned former judge even has, in the performance of his duties, implored the many police officers attendees at outreaches on the West Demerara, that the current modus operandi of arresting first and asking questions later to uphold the law isn’t an ideal way of doing their jobs, because citizens could be subjected and prone to their individual whims and fancies during the performance of their duties, while exercising their functions of powers of arrest.
I suggest that the way for Mr. Slowe to make changes in our way of doing things in Guyana, if he is so desirous, is to get involved in politics, get a seat therein, and propose such a change, get it voted upon, while in Parliament. Alternatively, he can apply for the same job that Mr. Ramlall is doing and while performing that job function, at the Police Complaints Authority, make changes, which he sees fit for the betterment of our society. Mr. Joe Harmon is now running for leadership of his party so Mr. Slowe would be well advised to liaise with Mr. Harmon for a bandwagon seat on his ticket. Short of that, he is well advised that he may opt to sue the State. Then the legal rule will apply – he who asserts will have to prove. Making winded statements on such a topic is not the ideal route for a person of his calibre to be making upon being arrested. If he felt that he was entitled to a right of security of the person, which he contends has been violated by a state servant, he can sue the State for redress like every other law-abiding citizen, who may wish to avail themselves to the shield of a court.
I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Neil Adams for his refreshing letter, particularly his final paragraph where he made reference to Dr. Ashni Singh, a former Finance Minister of the Ramotar administration, as a precedent for arguing that the former Assistant Police Commissioner, Paul Slowe, ought to realise that equality of treatment between himself and Dr. Ashni Singh, and persons in Guyanese jurisdiction where the rule of law is intact, should urge him to tone down his theatrics, lest he wish to continue to be a laughing stock, and give the Guyanese populace a big laugh. The option of using the court and suing the State for damages whenever a citizen feels he or she has been falsely arrested is guaranteed under the civil law procedures, not make the population laugh at him by making fanciful arguments about law enforcement officers. These are people hired by the State to perform certain duties while we, the citizens, go about our merry business during the day, until we decide to retire to our beds at nights.
In my humble view, making wild oral statements in the public domain on such a matter, when by virtue of being a member of our apparently somewhat self-regulating law enforcement fraternity, isn’t a route for Mr. Paul Slowe, a former Asst Commissioner, to take. If he feels his right of security of person has been violated, the law is simple sue for redress. By Mr. Slowe making wild and reckless statements, this would tend to send the wrong message that, in the premises, police officers don’t do their job legally, and/or the State is illegally performing its function as an employer, by hiring police officers to perform illegalities. Thus, I personally strongly feel a former Asst Commissioner may be acting unethically by making such a wild statement in the public domain, particularly since Section 20 of the Police Act gives the right of such a prima facie aggrieved citizen to seek bail when arrested without a warrant by a police officer.
Finally, let us also have regard to the rights of such a law enforcement person, who can also act in the capacity of a private citizen, if he or she so chooses, under Section 32 of our Constitution, which mandates it as a duty for every citizen to prevent crime and other violations of the law and to take care of and protect public property.

Sincerely,
M. Shabeer Zafar
Barrister Solicitor/Notary

---

---