Dear Editor,
The record-breaking use of expletives by Attorney-at-Law Ryan Crawford should not be the main focus on the incident which took place on the ECD Public Road, and so detract from the casus belli which provoked the outburst.
It is interesting to read of a similar incident which is related by another Attorney-at-Law and a sitting Member of Parliament, Mr Charrandass Persaud. In a letter to the media, he said, “On Friday, August 24, 2018, about 8.50pm, I was stopped at Vigilance at a “roadblock”. No ‘goodnight’, no ‘please’ was offered to me. I was told to produce my driver’s licence. I must let the public know this because it is our right. A policeman must tell you why he has stopped you. I asked the rank why he stopped me and he simply said he wanted to see my driver’s licence. I refused to give it to him.”
He was taken to the Vigilance, where he was released after it was ascertained that he was an MP.
However, when one views the video taken by the policeman, it should be noted that the videoing began as Crawford’s car was approaching. This would seem to suggest an act of premeditation. There is a clear intent to make a post on Facebook should the outcome of the stop escalate into something negative. This is evidenced by the fact that he immediately made the post of FB to garner ‘likes’ and elicit comments. Many persons seek fame in this regard. As a responsible officer, he should explain why he was bent on having a video done while stopping a vehicle for a ‘routine’ search. He should also explain why he took the evidence he collected ‘illegally’ immediately to FB, rather than reporting it to his superiors and allowing them to take the necessary action.
It is also evident that the ‘calm and cool’ disposition of the traffic Police is clearly as a result of the fact that he was doing a recording of the event.
In the case of Persaud, the Police had acted in their usual aggressive, rude and uncouth manner, since no recording was being done. Again, this would assume that it was the ‘game plan’ in Mr Crawford’s case that the provocation bear fruit, and it did. The Police officer received lots of ‘likes’ on FB.
Mr Crawford gave sound legal reasoning, which is backed by what the then Acting Commissioner of Police Mr David Ramnarine had clearly pronounced on in August 2016. He made it clear that the Guyana Police Force has zero tolerance for ranks that set up roadblocks or randomly stop private vehicles without authorisation, and that they can do so only if an offence has been committed; and that ‘willy-nilly’ stops must be discontinued.
Mr Crawford made it clear to the Police officer that there must be reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed, and it is clear that there was no ‘reasonable suspicion’.
Moreover, our Constitution, in Article 149 (1) and (2), made it clear that no person shall be deprived of his freedom of movement throughout Guyana unless by lawful detention, and since there was no ‘reasonable suspicion’ to detain Mr Crawford, it can be concluded that his constitutional rights have been violated, regardless of how brief it was.
Mr Ramnarine had further stated that some Police would take advantage of ‘soft and weak’ persons and demand money from them if their documents are not in order. Definitely, Mr Crawford cannot be categorised as ‘soft and weak’!
I am sure the multitude of persons illegally stopped by the Police daily have the ‘know-how’ to react in this manner, and would have wanted to act like Mr Crawford, but desisted for various reasons, fear being paramount. But it is hoped that this much-publicised incident would bring the gravity of these illegal stops and detentions to a screeching halt, and Police Commissioner Mr Leslie James will ensure that this is done, to avoid a similar or worse occurrence.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
RDC Councillor, Region Six