How can so-called responsible persons encourage the "criminally-minded" to create social unrest in our beloved Bahamas

'Political operatives' and the 'criminally-minded'
tribune242 editorial




POLICE Staff Association president Dwight Smith during an interview with the press after the February 23 demonstration on Bay Street urged politicians to stop politicising issues.

He was defending his Force from a politician's criticism of the worth of police reports, which were used in another case to decide the suitability of a person for a high office. Mr Smith was also smarting under the criticism of how "over prepared" police were when they arrived on Bay Street for the BTC demonstration. It would have been irresponsible - after a union leader had declared that a "small Egypt" was needed on Bay Street to protest the sale of BTC - if police had not come fully prepared -- with its canine unit and all. The unionist was accused of instigating social unrest, and so the police were ready.

Mr Smith pointed out that the type of persons he saw among the crowd that day made it necessary for the police to do their job to ensure the safety of protesters and observers. He said the police had difficulty with those participating in the protest who had "nothing to do with BTC," but were there "advancing political groups."

"We saw so many things that were going on. I, for one, wondered if we were dealing with a BTC situation or if we were dealing with a political situation. For the life of me I could not understand what was going on," Mr Smith told the press.

The demonstration was said to have been organised by the Committee to Save BTC, but PLP members made a strong appearance.

Mr Smith said downtown merchants called to complain about a group of young protesters who were dropped off in the George Street area. As they walked to the protest, merchants claimed they stopped in store after store "causing a disturbance."

"I walked there personally and saw them. I knew some of them and talked to them. I heard them say, if they did not get paid there is going to be problems. I had to encourage some of them to come out of the stores. They had no reason to go in the stores.

"They were just being disruptive," said Mr Smith.

"My view is there were only a handful of persons there who were really dealing with BTC. If you were to speak to some of those persons, they did not know why they were out there. They did not know what they were out there for. If we were to really do the due diligence, we'll find a lot of them did not understand what was going on," he said.

It was suggested that "political operatives" had paid many persons -- some if them referred to by the police as "criminally minded" -- to demonstrate on Bay Street. As the late Kendal Isaacs, QC, who refused his party's request to lead a demonstration, pointed out, he would have been responsible for any breach of the peace caused by the demonstrators. These "political operatives," and Rodney Moncur, who has called for 10,000 demonstrators, should reconsider the consequences. And to help them understand their responsibilities the police should enforce the law -- especially against persons who would have paid these demonstrators to create the disturbance.

How can so-called responsible persons encourage the "criminally-minded" to create social unrest and then demand that they obey the law when their services are no longer needed? We expect the police to protect residents against these very same people. However, when caught by the law they will look to their political paymasters to save them from prison.

Reminds us of the PLP election when drug dealers were desperate that the PLP be returned to power. Rightly or wrongly, true or false, there was the perception that this party was their guardian. The call was passed down the line -- especially in Eleuthera -- to get the fast boats ready. As soon as the PLP were elected the operators expected to be back in business. Some were so bold that they talked openly to our reporters, calling names of their political protectors.

We recall the talks that Magistrate Hercules and the late Sir Etienne Dupuch had many years ago when they took their morning constitutional on Cayman's Five Mile Beach. Magistrate Hercules, a tough, no nonsense magistrate, left the Bahamas after several years here. His complaint was about the political interference he had to suffer when certain "criminally-minded persons" appeared before him. It was more than he could take.

If we expect the police to be effective in controlling crime, then this culture of using persons on the wrong side of the law when it suits certain purposes, must end.

March 16, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Bahamas Blog International