The police need to get to work

THE EDITOR: I am writing to you in response to an article in the Newsday on Wednesday April 16, 2003 titled “E-999 responds to thousands.” Let me get right down to the point.

Do the police actually expect most of the citizens to believe in those numbers? For some of us, it is truly hard to believe. Mainly because when you do call the police for assistance, they either take forever to show up and by the time they show up, the culprit has already fled; or they don’t bother to show up at all. I really hope those calls aren’t counted because if they are,those are mainly the responses that most citizens receive on a daily basis. Another thing to mention, just a few short days ago there was an article about the police and how police officers were complaining how they are “not trained properly in the academy for this kind of violence.” I’m sorry, but what kind of a message is that sending within today’s society? That the police force is a complete joke? Honestly, I believe it is.

I have never felt one bit of safety in Trinidad, no matter how many police vehicles you see around you passing by every single day. I’ve seen police try to pull men over and they refuse to stop, yell back at the officer and drive away; they didn’t bother chasing them down when they violated the law. What kind of police work is that? Does a police officer have no authority over a citizen? If not, why bother having the police at all? We might as well just kill each other for spite and nobody will care.

One other thing that I find is a problem is when crimes are reported in the newspapers and police officers who lead the investigations, their names are put in for publicity. This is very unprofessional to do, considering it sends a bad message to society that being a police officer is simply for publicity and that it’s just a stunt to get your name in the paper. But when it comes down to the job, the police officers really don’t do much at all. The other thing is, police brutality and police corruption. You expect citizens to ever feel comfortable with the police force when they hear stories like that in the newspapers? What better message to send to those who want to spread havoc and chaos in our society. Join the police force, you can do all the crime you want and you’ll go unpunished!

That’s the best message that we want to send to potential officers. But those officers who believe in the police system, and are honest, are penalised by senior officers who are corrupted and ruthless. The Government says it is improving security. I’m sorry but they have been saying that for the past year and we haven’t seen any improvement. All we have seen is more murders, more kidnappings and more robberies. Innocent people are dying every day because someone is spending money on rent for government buildings at about $90 million a year, when you should be really spending it on this society’s security and improving the police academy so that the officers on duty receive the proper training to deal with today’s issues. Purchase the buildings and stop wasting tax payer’s money on rent. Put the money towards other usage where it’s needed most, like the police!

ARKADIUSZ R JAGIELSKI
Santa Cruz