When the difference between the police and the military starts to blur in the consciousness of the government, we are in trouble.
Is Barbodos Copying Nigeria or Zimbabwe?
I’d bet that Barbados strongman Owen Arthur actually likes the idea of joint police/military patrols. Police Commissioner Dottin will tell you that it is all about a shortage of personnel.
Perhaps, perhaps not.
But whatever the intent or rationale, the joint police and military patrols in Barbados are communicating a sinister message to citizens and tourists alike – that M16 Assault Rifles and military muscle are necessary for everyday policing in our communities.
When the difference between the police and the military starts to blur in the consciousness of the government, we are in trouble.
May God help Barbados…
Stop Police And Defence Force Joint Patrols
Have courage for the great sorrows of life; Patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your task, go to sleep. God is awake.”
– Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
IN extending my condolences to all those who suffered loss, pain and hurt during the recent road accidents, I became more grieved and hurt and also very concerned to see at the scene of the accident at Joe’s River in the civil parish of St. Joseph on July 27, 2007, some of the members from the Defence Force carrying M16 guns. Were they there to prevent “our journalist and photographers” from going to help the crash survivors while legally carrying out their professional duties, or were they heavily armed to protect the survivors from concerned citizens coming to help them?
I am fully aware that we are blessed with a competent, efficient and trained Police Force who are trained to protect law and order, whereas, a soldier is trained to kill. A song writer once wrote, “Arm The Police”. The powers that be should revisit the Defence Force, and the Royal Barbados Police Force Joint Patrol Agreement. The Defence Force should only be called by the Police in areas where they are encountering serious violent behaviour while analysing a situation that is a bit too hot to handle, and require a back-up from the Defence Force.
It’s my vision that if the Police do not put an immediate stop to the ordinary “joint patrols”, the Defence Force is going to call the shots, they are going to overturn the tables instead of taking orders from the Police, the Police will have to be taking orders from the Defence Force.
Though I am standing clear from “The Prison Inquiry”, what is coming out so far is an eye opener for all and sundry.
If and when we become a Republican State, are we going to have an army visible at all times carrying their M16 guns? What type of relationship would our journalist and photographers have with the army?
With the planned changing of the Constitution to a Republican State, joint patrols between the Police and the Defence Force will be a thing of the past, therefore I now deem it appropriate to put an immediate end to the joint patrols and put mechanisms in place to so that our soldiers, when we become a Republican State, won’t be cowardly, treacherous and ruthless aggression against the Government and the Police Force.
Keith A. Weekes, BSS, JP
… read the original online at the Barbados Advocate (link here)
Barbados Free Press 