The state of emergency was a success because police officers went well above and beyond the call of duty, so much so that they were exploited. This, according to president of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Sgt Anand Ramesar yesterday. And he also warned that with the state of emergency expected to expire at midnight today, criminal activity could once again heighten. Ramesar said, however, that the state of emergency and the curfew were deserving of praise in that officers were granted more leverage in executing their duties and conducting more aggressive anti-crime operations.
"There are more arrests, more execution of warrants and more seizures of narcotics and illegal arms and ammunition...this was far more than what was previously done," he said. Ramesar said the state of emergency, coupled with the curfew, also reduced the challenge arising from "day-to-day policing." "For instance, stop-and-search operations which is a matter-of-fact policing aspect was reduced because the state of emergency allowed police officers to operate more from an operational aspect and to identify targets and to go after the targets," Ramesar he added. The downside, he said, was there was no balance between the state of emergency and the welfare of officers.
According to Ramesar, this was coupled with low morale which he attributed to many empty promises from the executive of the Police Service that officers, primarily detectives and Special Reserve Police (SRPs) would be appropriately compensated for their effort during the state of emergency. "There was definitely no balance...No one took into consideration the psychological and mental challenges of officers during the state of emergency so much so that officers are totally burnt out," he said. He said while the association had thrown its full support behind the state of emergency, the initiative, however, was one which breached "all conditions." "The state of emergency totally breached all terms and conditions regarding how officers were being worked," Ramesar said.
"The association approached the Police Commissioner on more than one occasion and tried to mitigate this but to date nothing came out of those discussions. "All we have been getting is the runaround." And with Christmas and Carnival around the corner, Ramesar has warned that the crime rate could increase because police officers were too exhausted to properly execute their duties. "Under the state of emergency, police officers were definitely exploited...They are now overworked and tired," he said. "With Christmas coming, they cannot physically and mentally sustain this level of policing, so therefore that level of policing would obviously drop. "And Christmas, as we all know, is when there is heightened criminal activity." He said figures complied by the association reflected an increase in police officers being absent from duty and also an increase in sick leave being taken by officers.