…says citizens should allow Police to do their work
Following the expletive-laden clip showing Attorney Ryan Crawford berating a junior Police rank for stopping him without proper cause, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said law enforcement ranks should be allowed to carry out their duties as long as they suspect an infraction has been committed.
The Minister made the comments at a Police event on Monday where he told ranks they should always operate as professionals in spite of the circumstances.
“Members of the public will cuss you down but you just courteously, professionally and cautiously and with integrity continue your work… in the course of time, you will see yourself becoming respected by the same public after a while,” Ramjattan encouraged.
The Vice President also told reporters that while he personally knows Crawford, he does not feel the Attorney’s response to being stopped was the correct approach.
“The Police have a difficult job and if we are stopped and Police say just wind up your glass, I want to see if the tint is a little too dark as against the light, what you’re going to do, cuss the Policeman? I don’t think that that is the appropriate thing to do but indeed the policy is that you have to have reasonable suspicion before you can stop someone.”
“Before he (the Policeman) could even ask if he had tint permission, the tirade happened so I don’t know if the Policeman is wrong. We have already told Policemen they must generally stop as a result of some formation in their minds that there is some suspicious activity,” the Public Security Minister outlined.
He related that many drivers operate their motor vehicles without the requisite permission to use tint. On this basis, he believes that a courteous citizen should realise that a Police rank is doing his/her work. According to the Public Security Minister, it was random searches that caught about 30 persons with illegal guns.
The Minister then suggested that aggrieved members of the public take their complaints against Police through the available channels such as the Office of Professional Responsibility. That body was only reconstituted last week when retired Justice William Ramlall was appointed Chairman. Ramjattan said that through the hundreds of complaints about errant Police Officers, several ranks were sent packing.
The Police Officer who recorded the video alleged that the attorney’s vehicle was pulled over because he could not initially see the driver. However Crawford refused to wind-up his window and demanded that the junior rank tell him what offences he committed.
“You tape who you got to tape. You go and tell every one of them [expletive] Commanders, the [expletive] President, Vice President, whoever the [expletive] you want to tell. I have a right to travel on this road freely without [expletive] interference unless I break the [expletive] law. I did not break the law,” the attorney expressed.
He had also refused to produce and documents as seen in the viral video. Crawford has since apologised for his language which was condemned by the Guyana Bar Association.
The Association, however, agreed with their colleague that police should only stop motorists when there is reasonable suspicion.
Commander of C Division (East Coast Demerara), Calvin Brutus, has since called for an investigation to be launched into the incident. Reports are that the incident occurred at Mahaicony on the East Coast of Demerara when Crawford was operating a silver car with registration plates PNN 8482. At the end of the clip that went viral, Crawford drove off from the scene without producing his documents.
The matter has attracted the attention of many Guyanese and has significantly divided opinion. While some have expressed the need for more becoming behaviour, many have expressed frustration at constant random stops from Police ranks on the roadways. One letter writer even suggested that the attorney should be disbarred. (Shemuel Fanfair)
