An incident happen in Jamaica earlier this week that was captured by a bystander on a camera phone,of a Policeman manhandling a school girl,that has sparked public debate . What happen is that the Police was on an operation and ask some passengers in a car to disembark. It's reported that the teenager refused to and started to curse the officer upon which the Police drag her from the car. The teenager then slapped the Policeman across the face and reeled off expletives,which is illegal by law in this country. There has been a lot of condemnation of the Police Officer by many persons on social networks. The majority of the comments are along the line that the Policeman could and should have handled the matter differently.
TWO ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED.
I think there are two separate issues to be dealt with here. The first is the actions of the Policeman.The Policeman should have handled the situation in a more professional manner befitting the organization he represents,and in accordance with established procedures,layed out in the High Command force order that seeks to guide Police conduct and behaviors. He could have asked firstly for a Policewoman to deal with the teenager,since it"s well established that a male would be appropriate to deal with a male and a female with a female. That could have cool down what turned out to be an explosive situation,as maybe that young lady would have behaved differently. He could also have asked the taxi driver to ask the girl to get out of the car,seeing that the driver is ultimately responsible for the vehicle and its occupants.
POLICE DOES WHAT THEY WANT.
THE Police Force in this country,however,for along time has not operated in a professional manner towards Jamaican's and in accordance with established and respected international standards. They have absolutely no respect for the rights of Jamaicans. They killed,maimed,brutalized and abuse the citizenry with impunity. Year after year there are many abuses that goes unpunished.Police does whatever they please and gets away with it,either by investigators doing shoddy investigations,or,it takes years before a ruling is handed down by Director of Public Prosecution(DPP),and in many instances when they are charged, they intimidate witnesses so they don't attend Court. Many witnesses and complainants ended up been killed. So the actions of that Policeman is not surprising as that has become their modus operandi and their is nothing the citizens can do to stop it or get any form of justice. Worthless, Politicians,at the first chance they get,spout off at election time how they will make sure the rights of Jamaicans are protected,yet when they get into power,the abuse either continue or get worse.
SCHOOLGIRL BEHAVIOR DISGRACEFUL.
THE second issue is the behavior of the schoolgirl. The behavior that she exhibited was most unbecoming,disrespectful,out of order and disgraceful. She should have obeyed the lawful requisition of the Policeman as everybody else did. Even more disgraceful,is that she was bold enough to slap the officer across the face! Unbelievable! No one under any circumstances should ever assault an officer of the law. that's just plain disgraceful. When you look at the indiscipline that permeates our society,and juxtapose the behavior of that girl,you will understand why the society is in the mess that it is. The total breakdown of respect for authority,any authority for that matter,is at the root of our present intolerable levels of disorder,plaguing this beautiful country. Whenever a teenager can stand up in public and slap an officer of the law in his face, and hurl expletives at him,the country has sunk to a new low! Just a few years ago that was unheard of. There is no way a child could behave like that in public and not receive a sound flogging from her parent. What about been respectful? What about having shame? What about respecting authority?. Those small things that all civilize people strive to upheld seems foreign to our present crop of societal undesirables,and barbarians,call children. When i see such behaviors exhibited by what is call our future, makes me shudder to think what will happen to this country when they grow up and turn adults. Children should have an understanding of common decency and respect. They should realized that whatever they do that is bad or good,has the potential to haunt them throughout life or help them.If she had done what the officer asked of her,this situation would never had happen in the first place. That however, sadly, is the the sort of behavior that has taken over this country. Everywhere you look nowadays it's just indiscipline,indiscipline and more indiscipline.
A SPIRIT OF REBELLION.
It seems as if there is a spirit of rebellion running through these young children nowadays. Expletives is illegal in Jamaica and you can be charged for using them. Alarmingly,that fact did not seem to have a mitigating effect on the schoolgirl! That's the real troubling thing about this incident. If our young people have no respect for law and order now,what will the future of Jamaica be like in ten or fifteen years time? With the alarming levels of crime and disorder in the country and the constant asking of why are we so violent,that behavior exhibited by the teenager gives us the answer in a very clear and precise way. Young people in general does not respect or fear the law! That fact as alarming as it is,is borne out everyday in schools right across the Island. Police continues to rake in alarming numbers of knifes,ice picks and other offensive weapons by the hundreds regularly from school children. Our school children seem not to care about the fact that its illegal and they could be thrown into jail for it. They seem just not to care. That's frightening!
OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED.
THIS incident presents us with a unique opportunity to open a dialogue on the state of our Nation children's and the way how they are conducting themselves. As a Nation we cannot sit idle by and watch our Nation's future been left in the hands of person's that obviously is growing up without an appreciation for correct behavior and a respect for the laws of this land. They need to be taught what it means to behave with dignity and grace. It also gives us the opportunity to reignite the debate about Police conduct and the way how they carry out their duties. We need to demand that our rights be protected,and our politicians do something to protect us from Police abuse.
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