Saturday, October 18, 2008

1000 Words

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1 comment:

Thommo said...

Policing and Crime Fighting in St. Lucia

Policing in St. Lucia is quickly becoming a problem instead of a solution to the crime situation.
The incidences of indiscrinate and unprovoked shootings of unarmed young men by the police is quickly becoming a cause for concern.

The latest incidents that come to mind are the fatal shooting of 44-year old Timothy St. Luce of Bouton in August, the shooting of Soca artiste Yardie, and the shooting of 32-year old Bois Patat resident Cladius Charles last week Tuesday.
The frequency of these shootings and the callous manner in which they were executed further tarnishes the reputation of the police force in St. Lucia.

At a time when crime and lawlessness is growing at an alarming rate in St. Lucia, and murders are being committed with a wanton disregard for life, such actions of the police only exercebates the situation.
When the state's crime fighting apparatus becomes a participant, wittingly or unwittingly, in crime it presents a self fulfilling prophecy. In as much as you cannot fight fire with fire, you cannot fight crime with crime.

The issuing of a firearm to a police officer, imposes a great responsibility upon that officer, to exercise good judgement in the dicharging of that weapon. While it is understood that there will be situations where the police will not be afforded the luxury of time in making a decision, it is incumbent on the part of any law enforcement officer to protect life and limb in the execution of his duty. The role of the police is to protect and serve.

There is no greater time for the police to become more responsible, judicious, and professional than now. If the public has a greater respect, appreciation, admiration of the work of the police, they will be inclined to provide the necessary cooperation which will redound to greater a effectiveness and efficiency in their efforts of combatting the crime menace that is facing our country. Of course, the opposite of that is also very true. The police cannot win the cooperation of the public if they are percieved to be a callous, incompetent, trigger happy bunch of thugs.

It is often said that we get the government we deserve and the same is true of the type of police force we get. What does it say about the vetting process that is employed in selecting the young men and women to serve in the constabulary in St. Lucia?
What does it say about the pool from which they are being drawn? Isn't this a reflection of how they were raised, educated, and sensitized by a society that is becoming more engrossed in materialism while failing to provide the necessary moral, spiritual, and social underpinnings that will form the basis for their actions?
The fish, we are often told, starts to rot from the head. What we have seen over the last few years in the police force is a patent lack of disciplined, principled, and visionary leadership. The leaders are often engaged in a clash of egos, a continued jockeying for power, a non stop, bitter, internecine feud while the underlings are left to their own devices.
The situation is further compounded by the shameful meddling of politicians with axes to grind, scores to settle, and nefarious agendas to effect. Certainly the St. Lucian taxpayer deserves more than that.
Let me be quick to point out that there are quite a few examplars in the police force, some of who are friends of mine. They are the epitome of professionalism and have an unmatched sense of duty but are not being recognized by the myopic and self absorbed leadership.
It is hoped that the Chief of Police (CoP) was able to utilize the well deserved hiatus to gain a fresh perspective of his responsibilities and is ready and willing to implement a new agenda for the police force. This agenda should be grounded in effective crime fighting, eradication of the uniformed criminals from the force, adequate training in forensics and evidence gathering, promoting of culture of competence, performance, respect, and pride in the police force.
The police need "friends" in the community. They must develop a network of "friends" in every community. Such friends provide the critical resource of surveillance and intelligence, the absence of which makes their work more difficult. The police must find the way to strike a balance between their enforcement role and their ambassadorial role for want of a better term. They need to be more socially engaged in the society. In the areas of sports, youth mentoring, community policing, to name a few.
The political directorate must provide the force with the critical manpower needs, the basic crime fighting tools of vehicles, etc. More importantly they need to allow the professionals to space to operate and refrain from meddling and exerting undue influence of the management of the force.
The role of government is simply to provide the right environment, the legal framework, critical infrastructure, socio-political philosophy within which the force should operate.
The citizens are quickly adopting a litigious culture, as is evidenced in the above mentioned cases, the consequence of which will be an emormous financial burden for the state if these cases are successfully contested in the courts. Thus it is incumbent on the part of the government to impress upon the directorate of the constabulary the categorical imperative of effective, responsible, and professional policing.

October 18, 2008 at 4:51 PM

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