The rough time the T&T Police Service (TTPS) was experiencing got even worse yesterday, after a marked police vehicle in a music video glamorising the use of weed surfaced online.
The music video, titled “Bunnin It”, was released on Youtube.com on Tuesday and up to press time last evening had close to 4,000 viewers. It is just about three minutes long and features a local artiste from Arima known as The Writer & Riddim Royals.
In the video’s first 40 seconds, a marked police four-door pick up is parked in a bushy area adjacent to a coconut field and the artiste is sitting on its bonnet smoking what appears to be a marijuana joint.
It starts up: “When I on the beach ah bunnin it…in the middle of the street ah bunnin…in front of the police I bunnin it.”
However, in the video’s introduction, the artistes made it known that they were advised not to use the opening footage. It read: “The label advised us to exclude the opening footage…F@#- the Label…F@#- the police too.”
The artiste then continued: “Under the coconut tree ah bunnin it…When I done eat ah bunnin it…High Grade in meh backpack…when I open meh laptop high grade centres the back drop.”
The video quickly reached officials at the TTPS and instructions were given to officers at the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) to launch an immediate investigation into the authenticity of the police vehicle, the location where that part of the video was shot and who were the officers who sanctioned the promotion of the TTPS’ vehicle in the music video.
The T&T Guardian contacted a spokesperson at the music platform responsible for the video, Mumra Music, on the issue yesterday and was told the TTPS “had nothing to worry about” as it was not one of their official vehicles used in the video. Speaking from Washington DC, the spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous, said the video’s producer was German-based and added that decals (a design prepared on special paper for durable transfer on to another surface) were used on the vehicle seen in the video.
“The actual vehicle, if they (referring to the police), look at it properly, it is not a make that the police service use. Secondly, that particular shot did not happen in Trinidad and then, it is actually decals that were used temporarily onto the vehicle. It is not a police vehicle number,” the Mumra Music spokesperson said.
Asked where was the location for that aspect of the video he declined to answer but insisted that it was done “on another island.” Asked how many countries were used in shooting the video, he said: “I prefer not to say, but yes some of the shots, example the scene by the water (referring to the coastline shot), was done in Trinidad.”
However, he also declined to disclose the local areas where the shooting of the video occurred.
Asked if any ganja smoking was promoted in the music video, the spokesperson said: “No illegal substance was used in the making of the video. It was all acting.
“A lot of money was put into this production and its intention was to make it as much local as possible (meaning T&T).”
Seales: All-time low for TTPS
A police source said yesterday that the artiste, along with all responsible in the making and promotion of the video, will be “called in for questioning.”
This is the third incident in which the action of police officers can bring the service into disrepute.
Last Wednesday, two police officers were involved in a gunfight with each other at Grand Bazaar, Valsayn. One of them, Sgt Darryl Honore, has since died. The other incident came two days later, when photos of a Latino woman scantily dressed wearing a senior officer’s jacket, with the name tag of ASP Michael Sooker, surfaced online. Sooker has since been suspended pending an investigation.
Contacted on this latest case yesterday, TTPS’ Social and Welfare Association president Michael Seales described it as an “all-time low” for the TTPS “when events are discovered.”
“The producer achieved his objective. His video has gone viral. But this is unfortunately at the expense of the TTPS. The video is promoting the very thing that the TTPS arrest persons for. Drugs are illegal,” Seales said.
“But to use a TTPS vehicle in a video such as this and in this manner is an insult to highest of any law enforcement organisation. One wonders if there was authorisation for the use of the vehicle depicted in this manner or was it an illegal use of the vehicle?”
Seales said the TTPS had now hit rock bottom.
“The association is horrified. It looks like no turning back now, as any hope of salvaging our image is lost in the eyes of the public.”
He added that the association is eager to see how this latest fiasco will be handled.
“It looks like it’s a never-ending tumultuous plummet into the abyss of hopelessness based on these issues.”