Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 10, 2014 Editorial
Just under a fortnight ago, a policeman in pursuit of people who allegedly robbed a relative, pulled a young man from whatever he was doing and proceeded to shoot him in the mouth. Of course, the shooting was not as callous as one executing some person with whom the shooter might have had a problem. This was worse.
For starters, the shooter is a policeman training to become a leader of the ranks. He is supposed to be vesting himself with authority but like any organization that grooms its young leaders, this policeman was being trained. Unlike many organizations, he is provided with a weapon, something that is not afforded to trainees.
Guns always make people all powerful and we have seen many examples of this, particularly among the less educated among the young. The school dropouts are today’s gunmen. They lack the power of reasoning and once armed with a gun, feel invincible. Pity the person who comes up against him.
Because the gunmen and the policemen are products of the same society the only thing that actually separates them is their level of reasoning. The policeman in this instance proves that he is not too far removed from the armed school dropout.
It is here that we need to re-examine certain protocols. Had the shooter of the young man been an ordinary citizen, he would have been hauled before the courts in short order. In Guyana, people of a certain station seem to enjoy a law that is non-existent for the ordinary people in the society. We could not help but notice that when the Minister of Finance slammed into a car transporting a family on Mash Day.
He reportedly left the scene of the accident and he had a friend meet with the people to offer them compensation. Queries directed to the investigators revealed that the police were observing some protocol that precluded them from arresting and prosecuting the Minister of Finance. To this day there have been no charges.
Instead, the nation is fed the excuse that the file has been sent to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Then the Director of Public Prosecutions would inform the nation that the office would have no such files. This could only happen because those entrusted to apply the law do so selectively when it comes to certain people.
We fail to take pages from the books of others. Just last week, a judge was sent to jail for indicting another lawmaker on falsehoods. The United States does not discriminate. It does not talk about protocol. That was the country that was prepared to send its president—President Richard Nixon –to jail. In the end, to avoid the ignominy Nixon demitted office. We shudder to think if this situation had developed in Guyana.
We have had police death squads which, under public pressure would back off for a few days before reverting to the practice of being judge, jury and executioner. The law states that for every unnatural death there should be an inquest. For decades there has never been an inconclusive inquest with the result that no one has ever been sanctioned.
Surely this would influence those who come after the aggressive bunch. This attitude must have had an impact on the young police cadet who would shoot a teenager in his mouth. For starters, a nation takes pride in its young people. Even when a young criminal is confronted the nation comes out on the side of justice for the young criminal.
However, having watched one movie too many, this young policeman opts for Russian roulette. Those old enough who would have seen the movie ‘Deer Hunter’ would have seen how many people had their lives changed because of Russian roulette.
This young policeman did not have the luck of the draw on his side but he has a protective police force behind him. In Animal Farm, one of the codes written by the ruling class read, “All animals are equals but some are more equal than others.” The policeman belongs to the ruling class.
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