The police gave a distorted account of the broad daylight shootings by police on SBC television on Monday, this week. This was broadcasted at peak time viewing in the news bulletin in Creole at 8.00 pm. The SBC tried to justify the irresponsible and reckless firing of at least five gunshots at a white car at the traffic lights in
According to people we spoke to at the scene, the man who tried to stop the vehicle, whom we now know is a police officer, stood with gun in hand in front of the vehicle pointing at the driver. The car sped off and in avoiding the officer hit the railings on the side of the road. It was about 11.45 a.m. and the area was crowded with pedestrians and onlookers. However, this did not deter the gun-totting, trigger-happy police officers from firing at least five shots at the car and its passengers as it made its get away. The lives of the police officers at the scene were never in any danger and there was no justification at all for shooting their loaded guns. The driver was simply trying to get away albeit refusing to cooperate with the orders of a police officer. The officers chose to ignore the fact that there were several pedestrians walking around in close proximity to where the shooting was taking place. Nobody from the police HQ, which is metres away, swept the area for unspent bullets. Passers-by, including tourists, picked live ammunition in the form of bullets from the pavements after the incident. Another car not involved in the incident got hit by a stray bullet. The police refused us permission to photograph this particular vehicle which is now parked in their compound in
The police spokesperson in turn did not lose any time in rushing to SBC to justify what had happened, even before a proper investigation had been conducted. He then went at great length to justify the actions of the officers who fired the shots. Unfortunately, he fell far short from giving any logical explanation to the shooting incident. Once again it goes to show that the authority is putting guns in the hands of irresponsible elements within the police force with a trigger-happy attitude; individuals who will fire their guns at any given opportunity and for the merest of reasons, without consideration or regards of the consequences. But what is undeniable, is the fact that the shootings endanger the lives of countless of innocent people in the process. Despite the display of utter arrogance and brainless showmanship, the police still managed to allow the suspect to make a clean get away in what quickly degenerated into a farcical incident, more funny than real. According to the police spokesperson the car was later abandoned at Bel Air with a flat tyre. We will have to take his word for it, as SBC television failed to show its viewers pictures of the abandoned vehicle.
We have led a campaign for the President to withdraw all firearms from our trigger-happy policemen after a spate of killings of civilians by police officers. However, our pleas like many other things have landed on deaf ears. As such, the brunt of the blame for this incident must be laid squarely at the oak doors of State House. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure that persons to whom arms and ammunitions are entrusted do not use it on the civilian population or in a public place in the middle of the day where public safety and security are compromised. It is also the duty of the president, through his Commissioner of Police, to guarantee that people who are entrusted with weapons in the form of firearms in the course of their duties are well trained and can perform and make sound decisions when under stressful and difficult circumstances. This, they failed to achieve on Monday; giving one more good reason to the powers that be to act decisively and withdraw all weapons, arms and ammunitions from our reckless and irresponsible police officers immediately.