By Dennie Quill, ContributorI HAD no idea that public trust in the Jamaica Constabulary Force had so dramatically weakened until last week. Here's what happened. I chartered a taxi from New Kingston to Beverly Hills. On the way up the hill, a motorist travelling in the opposite direction flashed his lights. My driver correctly read the sign to mean the police were "up there" but since he had nothing to fear he was not bothered. Neither was I for that matter. Sure enough we met upon two members of the Mounted Troops who are often seen patrolling the area.
From the look of things they had stopped a car and were checking the relevant documents. For my driver this was an outrage. He could not imagine that the horsemen were legitimately doing duties normally assigned to the Traffic Department. Although I urged him not to rush to judgment without the facts, he had suspicion written all over his face. I found his attitude most puzzling because as a law-abiding citizen I always take great comfort from seeing the police around. This driver did not think so. He said he had good reason to doubt the sincerity of certain police actions.
'ROBOT'
A plumber by training, he said work was coming in mere drips. In between jobs, he decided to use his motor vehicle as a 'robot'. So one day he arrives in Half-Way Tree square with two passengers in his car. He noticed two police officers standing nearby so he told the passenger not to bother paying him. The passenger apparently did not hear and he handed over the agreed fare. As he took the money, one of the policemen approached him. He recounted the following exchange between them.
Policeman: "So yu a run robot, Star."
Motorist: "Officer is a likkle hustling me doing fe sen me children to school".
Policeman: "Well a hustle me a hustle to you know." He said this in between using his cell phone to summon a wrecker.
Motorist: "Ease me up a likkle nuh officer."
Policeman: "It gwaine cost you 8 grand,"
Motorist: "me no have dat sah, I can only find 5."
Policeman: "look yah nuh me no inna no whole heap a talk, go look inna de car yuh wi fine more."
Motorist: (went to his car and found another thousand) "Officer, see it yah me find one more."
Policeman signals the driver of the wrecker to hook up the car to take it to the pound. The motorist is frantic now because he has no more money. The policeman walks over to his colleague and after a discussion he returns to the motorist.
Policeman: "You catch me in a good mood today. Me no normally play ease up, you better sleep pan the same side ah the bed tomorrow."
He then orders the motorist to hand over money to the driver of the wrecker. No money was ever handed over to the policeman. His hands remained clean. The car was duly returned and soon the driver was on his way. He vowed then that he would get himself regularised and become a legal taxi driver and he has done this.
MOST SOUGHT AFTER
According to my driver, traffic duties are among the most sought after in the Constabulary these days. The fines for Road Traffic Offences have been increased significantly and the temptation to cut a deal presents itself daily. It would be an interesting project for some journalist to undertake research to determine whether traffic offences have decreased significantly since the fines were increased. With bigger fines, the revenues may have soared but are there fewer offenders? If there are fewer offences being committed can we conclude that huge fines are a deterrent?
If the incident reported to me was accurate one may say this one episode does not indicate a pattern. But I have heard of several other examples including one involving a young policeman who went to collect a bribe from a high-level sports administrator on premises adjoining a police station. When it was pointed out that he was being reckless, he simply gave a perfunctory shrug and waited for the pay-out.
When these incidents occur, they are repeated ten-fold among folks all across the country and eventually breed widespread mistrust. It seems to me that if public trust in a key institution like the Jamaica Constabulary Force has fallen to such critical lows that something needs to be done urgently to win back that trust and improve the image of the Force. The police will fare better in its crime-fighting initiatives if it has the support and respect of the public. And while there are good, dedicated men and women working to make us safe there are rogues that tarnish their image.
From time policemen who engage in corrupt acts are brought to book and this is encouraging. As far as traffic bribes are concerned motorists have a huge part to play in helping to blunt this kind of activity by first refusing to pay a bribe and secondly by reporting any such attempt to the Office of Professional Responsibility.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist.
