Some recent actions by the police service are contributing to a gradual perception that good things may be beginning to happen in law and order in the nation.
Among them are the bringing to justice some police officers for misbehaviour in public office. It is but a tiny drop in the bucket of official misfeasance but it is enough to signal that a turnaround has started. The recent statement by a High Court judge that “police officers are not above the law” is very heartening and gives optimism that the public can expect to see greater professionalism by police officers in the performance of their duties.
The greatest barrier to co-operation with the police by the public is the conviction in the minds of the overwhelming majority of the citizenry that police officers are above the law. Police officers flout the law with impunity in so many ways that affect the ordinary citizen that few people expect courteous, polite, fair treatment from them.
That is why whenever they actually do their jobs it is seen as reason for commendation. The paucity of letters praising police officers is evidence of this. Now that citizens are seeing police officers having to answer questions for their excesses perhaps the country can go back to being a law-abiding nation.
Karan Mahabirsingh,
Carapichaima.