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I think the time has come for those in authority, especially those responsible for national security, to look seriously into the matter of how prisoners and those charged with crimes are transported.
The common practice of carrying a prisoner in the back of an open vehicle surrounded by two or three policemen just won’t suffice anymore; this, after the Police Commissioner stated recently that threats made to anyone outside the court should be taken seriously by police officers.
As a concerned Vincentian I am quoting from the Searchlight Facebook page:
“….the threat made to a police officer recently after being asked to sit in the back of the transport went unresponded to, and that threat was to a police officer “Aryo aint see the man frustrated…aryo soon dead ah nah”.
The Police will have to deal with that in whichever manner they chose to, but my real concern here is the way these individuals are transported.
Who is going to stop a psycho from opening fire on an individual wanted by the Court?
Who is going to stop a hurting family member to do the same, if in their estimation justice was not served in the manner they expected, especially in cases of murder?
You must ask yourself the question, is anyone checking the grounds around and on the roadsides that are lined with individuals most of the time? Yes, I am talking about the perimeter of the Magistrate’s Court in Kingstown and on the roadside immediately in front of the building.
Many innocent civilians who have not broken the law come there to either support family members, or for their fill of the latest gossip on a pending case, a journalist for news stories, policemen to guard and children who make their way up and down the road, and other innocent and clueless individuals in passing vehicles! You get the picture now?
That could mean mass hysteria and pandemonium if someone overcome by emotions decides to open fire! Not only would that individual lose their life, since I believe the police would respond in kind, but the convict would be dead also! Innocent lives would be lost and in the end, we all lose the innocent to the carelessness of our justice system.
This is my urgent plea to the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of National Security to PLEASE rethink the way the transportation of prisoners and persons heading to the courts on charges are being carried out.
Stop pandemonium before it happens!
Frustrated Vincentian
