A STRANGE THING HAPPENED AT THE CENTRAL POLICE STATION
On Friday 8th September a strange thing happened at Central police station. On duty at the Inquiry Desk were two police women and a policeman.
A young man who appeared slightly tipsy walked into the police station to lodge a complaint. Apparently, the gentleman had gone to the Amusement Centre for a drink after doing his weekend shopping. In his shopping bags there was a large quantity of meat, amongst other things, which was to be savoured at Sunday lunch by the family. Surprisingly whilst at Amusement Centre someone had the cheek to steal the gentleman’s shopping. When he realized that his shopping bags had disappeared, the man, livid, decided to report the matter to the Central police station.
However, at the police station the man was not getting the sympathy he expected and that made him even more furious. In fact the police officers were treating his complaint as comical to the annoyance and irritation of the young man. A verbal boxing match ensued and went on relentlessly with abuse being hurled by both the policewomen behind the inquiry desk and the man in front of the desk with no end in sight. The policeman on the other hand, engrossed in whatever he was engrossed in, ignored the fiasco completely. The verbal abuse went on for a while with each party giving as good as it got.
Instead of recording the complaint in the occurrence book and reassuring the young man that the matter would be investigated if he makes a formal statement, the police officers treated the matter lightly. The frustration of the young man is therefore understandable since he had walked all the way from the Amusement Centre to the Central Police Station to make his complaint. Irrespective, the colourful verbal abuse in the police station in full public view was uncalled for from both sides and cannot be condoned. Our police force deserves our respect and we in turn, deserve their sympathy and professionalism when we turn to them for protection, assistance and help.
This is the kind of behaviour and mentality the newly appointed Commissioner of Police has inherited and is up against. He has the challenge to turn our police force into a lean, efficient, professional and effective organisation. He has reassured us that the emphasis will be on training and re-training during his tenure.
This is no mean feat and our Commissioner does not have the luxury of time on his side.