Heroic action

According to a report in Tuesday’s Newsday, Santana was confronted with a situation which saw a man accused of robbery plead with him for protection.

The man was shot by a businessman who pursued him all the way to Santana’s front gate, carrying an unlicensed firearm.

It is the job of a police officer to protect and serve. In the process, that officer daily faces certain risks. But because the system of oversight of officers is poor – the Police Complaints Authority does not have enough resources; police officers investigate their own – officers do not get the credit they deserve. Tales of bad-apple cops often spoil the whole bunch. But there are clearly good police officers.

And in this case, there are even retired cops who are contributing in whatever way they can.

Santana may not be a police officer any longer, but his intervention arguably saved a man’s life.

He put the skills he clearly still has to good use.

The question then has to be asked: why is Santana retired? In a situation where crime levels are high and where police officers complain bitterly about not having enough resources, should the service be “retiring” perfectly capable officers based on arbitrary, ageist factors? Older officers will have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is lost when they are not passed on to junior officers.

Hopefully, these are some of the issues that will be touched on by the ongoing manpower audit being led by Prof Ramesh Deosaran. That audit is long overdue. And while we praise the effort by Deosaran and his team to engage with civil society and conduct a series of interviews, we call on the committee to expedite the submission of its final report, currently due on December 31.

We also call on the State to expedite efforts to inject 800 officers into the Municipal Police Service, a move which could reduce stresses on centralised police services and enable greater community policing.

Meanwhile, it must be observed that there were no fatalities in the events that unfolded on Monday in Gasparillo. The shooting of the suspected robber was an action that could have harmed onlookers. The situation could have easily escalated.

While all citizens have a legitimate right to defend themselves and their property, they can only do so through lawful means. This means the use of proportionate force as well as compliance with all laws and regulations governing the use of force, inclusive of the licensing of firearms.

It must also be emphasised that while Santana has called on citizens to assist police in the fight against crime, this is not to be interpreted as a call for vigilante justice. It is one thing to assist police officers at the scene of a crime; to report suspicious activity; to provide tips and information.

It is another thing to take it upon yourself to be judge, jury and executioner.

The solution to the current crime situation is not extra-judicial killings, no matter how trying the circumstances. If the use of fatal force can be avoided, it must at all cost be avoided.

There is also the thorny issue of effecting a citizen’s arrest.

Such an arrest is one done by an ordinary citizen not precepted to carry arms. This action, while it can sometimes be justified, often poses risks to the citizen, physically and legally.

We hail Santana who clearly had the skills to bring a potentially fatal situation under control.