rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
Numerous issues plaguing the Police Service have broken the public’s trust in the institution but at the core of it all is indiscipline and the lack of adequate oversight over officers, according to Wayne “Watchman” Hayde and former commissioner of police James Philbert.
Speaking on the Eye on Dependency programme on i95.5 FM yesterday, the former senior officers outlined a slew of issues they say are compromising the service.
Philbert said the public’s mistrust of the police wasn’t unwarranted as it is based on their experiences with officers and “what they say and how they treat people.”
He recounted several instances, past and present when he personally had bad experiences with police officers or was disappointed with how they treated with his circumstance.
One such time was while he was a detective/inspector when a female officer threatened to arrest him when he visited the Chaguanas police station.
“I went to visit the Inspector...and I was told to sit and wait. After about half an hour I observed that no one was going, so I got up and asked to see him again and a female officer said, ‘Did I not tell you to sit down and wait?’ I said well ma’am I want to see him because it’s important. I didn’t identify myself. And she said I going to lock you up because of some disorderly conduct and some kind of thing,” he said.
“Those things happen and when you examine it you ask yourself what that was about? Why should that happen?”
He said it’s not uncommon for people to enter a station to make a report and are left feeling as though they committed a crime. He said there are many reasons why people come into a police station and a wide range of emotions they may be experiencing.
Wayne Hayde
SHIRLEY BAHADUR
He said a lack of management and supervision over the officers are also to blame for their bad attitudes.
Former corporal Wayne Hayde said the issue begins from the moment candidates are selected at the academy with people getting into the profession for the wrong reasons, among others. The indiscipline and lack of supervision, he said, is clear with officers sporting beards, gold chains, and gold rings while in uniform.
He said “friendship, kinship and relationships” are ruining the ethic within the Police Service.
“People have developed friends with people in the service to the extent that they can’t tell them...what to do when they are doing something wrong,” he said.
“Everybody bringing in their uncle, their tanty, their nenen and in a position and the other officers who have to control (them) are afraid to tell them anything because they might go an report to their family.”
He said romantic relationships between officers has created a “messy pool” where nobody wants to tell anyone what to do.
Philbert warned that the broken public trust needs to be repaired and safeguarded.
“Your best resource is not the motorcar you know? Not the firearm you know? You see the general public that’s your best resource. They are the ones who will keep you informed and alive. They’re the ones you need to show respect to. They’re the ones you need to help,” he said.
