WELCOME to the land of absurdity. Imagine this; I, Alicia Chamely, am a scumbag criminal extortionist. I go around smacking up parlour and small business owners with granny, cork sole Birkenstocks.
I threaten their family members, I may or, may not have removed a toe or, two that may or, may not have belonged to resisters.
To keep me away, those whom I terrorise pay me a substantial sum of money every month… and if they don’t have it… well snip, snip, those toes come off and bap, bap that Birkenstock starts slapping foreheads.
Yup, life is good for me. My pockets are full, my morals bankrupt, and my low self-esteem has bolstered to amazing heights through the fear I command. Until…
Tommy Two Toes couldn’t handle it anymore and organised a sting operation. So, one night before he became Tommy One Toe, I was behind bars, being charged with extortion. Oh, how the business owners in my area sighed with relief! They sang, they drank, they threw a parade.
Unfortunately for them, thanks to our amazingly, efficient, and sensible justice system (if you cannot sense the sarcasm here, my articles might not be your cup of tea), my children and husband are in charge of prosecuting me.
Yup, that’s right. The three people who always have my back and will do anything to protect me are now in charge of presenting evidence, documents, witnesses, etc., in court.
Those three chumps know I am invaluable. Thanks to my extortion scheme, they have been living good. They also know, to save themselves from societal shame, they must do all they can to ensure these charges are dropped, and don’t go to court.
So, they do nothing. They show up to court with nothing, are given an extension and return with nothing. They don’t even have a good excuse, just blank stares.
As such, my case is thrown out and I am back out in the community, extorting even more and Tommy toes, is now Tommy no toes and no tongue.
Insane right? In what bizarre reality would a justice system ask a person or organization to investigate one of their own, especially on such a serious criminal matter? The T&T justice system that’s who!
If an officer is accused of misconduct or criminal behaviour, they are referred to T&T Police Service Professional Standards Bureau, not the Department of Public Prosecutions, but the PSB a branch of the TTPS to which the accused belongs.
Dat making sense?
This month 12 police officers, accused of misconduct in public office, specifically in the realm of extortion and accepting bribes, have had their cases dismissed due to the non-compliance of the prosecution… the PSB.
In each case the PSB failed to provide (on more than one occasion) evidence, witness statements or have the officers who laid the charges appear at the sufficiency hearing, which determines whether there is a case against the accused.
As such all officers had their charges dismissed due to the prosecutions failure.
Hmmm, how strange, the police failing to provide evidence that could potentially result in some of their own being guilty. Who would have thought this would ever happen! I mean aren’t we a society that has no zero-tolerance approach to corruption in public office.
Minister in the Ministry of National Security Keith “Coal pot” Scotland, commented but really said nothing and our Commissioner of Police Erla “Peace Pole” Harewood Christopher appears to be praying somewhere.
The Police Complaints Authority has bought the matter up and continues to investigate it, but to Jonny, the small business owner, that means nothing. Because as far as he is concerned the police are not to be trusted. So, he lives in fear, he lives with a pit of helplessness growing in his stomach, as he wonders about the business he has built and the family he has raised. He worries that he could be next and will have nowhere to turn.
We cannot tackle crime without looking into our police service. I am not saying all our officers are crooked, I am saying those who are, need to be held accountable and the justice system needs to take steps to ensure problems are investigated by neutral parties. Because when young officer Jeff, sees old officer Harry doing all kinda ziggly business and not getting in trouble, he’s at risk of going crooked.
One bad apple spoils the whole bunch, but in cases of law enforcement, I believe it was comedian Chris Rock who said some jobs you can’t afford to have one bad apple.
Commentary: Tackling Crime
WELCOME to the land of absurdity. Imagine this; I, Alicia Chamely, am a scumbag criminal extortionist. I go around smacking up parlour and small business owners with granny, cork sole Birkenstocks.
I threaten their family members, I may or, may not have removed a toe or, two that may or, may not have belonged to resisters.
To keep me away, those whom I terrorise pay me a substantial sum of money every month… and if they don’t have it… well snip, snip, those toes come off and bap, bap that Birkenstock starts slapping foreheads.
Yup, life is good for me. My pockets are full, my morals bankrupt, and my low self-esteem has bolstered to amazing heights through the fear I command. Until…
Tommy Two Toes couldn’t handle it anymore and organised a sting operation. So, one night before he became Tommy One Toe, I was behind bars, being charged with extortion. Oh, how the business owners in my area sighed with relief! They sang, they drank, they threw a parade.
Unfortunately for them, thanks to our amazingly, efficient, and sensible justice system (if you cannot sense the sarcasm here, my articles might not be your cup of tea), my children and husband are in charge of prosecuting me.
Yup, that’s right. The three people who always have my back and will do anything to protect me are now in charge of presenting evidence, documents, witnesses, etc., in court.
Those three chumps know I am invaluable. Thanks to my extortion scheme, they have been living good. They also know, to save themselves from societal shame, they must do all they can to ensure these charges are dropped, and don’t go to court.
So, they do nothing. They show up to court with nothing, are given an extension and return with nothing. They don’t even have a good excuse, just blank stares.
As such, my case is thrown out and I am back out in the community, extorting even more and Tommy toes, is now Tommy no toes and no tongue.
Insane right? In what bizarre reality would a justice system ask a person or organization to investigate one of their own, especially on such a serious criminal matter? The T&T justice system that’s who!
If an officer is accused of misconduct or criminal behaviour, they are referred to T&T Police Service Professional Standards Bureau, not the Department of Public Prosecutions, but the PSB a branch of the TTPS to which the accused belongs.
Dat making sense?
This month 12 police officers, accused of misconduct in public office, specifically in the realm of extortion and accepting bribes, have had their cases dismissed due to the non-compliance of the prosecution… the PSB.
In each case the PSB failed to provide (on more than one occasion) evidence, witness statements or have the officers who laid the charges appear at the sufficiency hearing, which determines whether there is a case against the accused.
As such all officers had their charges dismissed due to the prosecutions failure.
Hmmm, how strange, the police failing to provide evidence that could potentially result in some of their own being guilty. Who would have thought this would ever happen! I mean aren’t we a society that has no zero-tolerance approach to corruption in public office.
Minister in the Ministry of National Security Keith “Coal pot” Scotland, commented but really said nothing and our Commissioner of Police Erla “Peace Pole” Harewood Christopher appears to be praying somewhere.
The Police Complaints Authority has bought the matter up and continues to investigate it, but to Jonny, the small business owner, that means nothing. Because as far as he is concerned the police are not to be trusted. So, he lives in fear, he lives with a pit of helplessness growing in his stomach, as he wonders about the business he has built and the family he has raised. He worries that he could be next and will have nowhere to turn.
We cannot tackle crime without looking into our police service. I am not saying all our officers are crooked, I am saying those who are, need to be held accountable and the justice system needs to take steps to ensure problems are investigated by neutral parties. Because when young officer Jeff, sees old officer Harry doing all kinda ziggly business and not getting in trouble, he’s at risk of going crooked.
One bad apple spoils the whole bunch, but in cases of law enforcement, I believe it was comedian Chris Rock who said some jobs you can’t afford to have one bad apple.