Dear Editor,
Having recently been issued a ticket for a questionable violation of the road traffice act, it occurred to me that the island's crime problem must certainly have been solved.
Why else would the police have so much time to conduct repetitive 'papers' checks and to issue tickets for obscure breaches? My recent ticket was written as 'permit body extending', which actually sounded a bit obscene.
Living in Irish Town, a largely rural area, I customarily provide free rides to workers, students, and others in my community who would otherwise be reliant on a sub-par public transportation system. In this instance, I was transporting five fellow residents -- three inside the vehicle and two in the bed of the pickup -- to Papine when I was stopped and ticketed by a one-officer roadblock. Apparently one of the two passengers in the bed of truck had a 'body part extending'.
Living in Irish Town, a largely rural area, I customarily provide free rides to workers, students, and others in my community who would otherwise be reliant on a sub-par public transportation system. In this instance, I was transporting five fellow residents -- three inside the vehicle and two in the bed of the pickup -- to Papine when I was stopped and ticketed by a one-officer roadblock. Apparently one of the two passengers in the bed of truck had a 'body part extending'.
At a time when police-public relations are already severely strained (read Mario Deane), this sort of petty and misplaced application of the 'road act' seems anything but constructive. Of note, a recent poll conducted by Bill Johnson concluded that Jamaicans considered 80 per cent of the constabulary to be corrupt. Could this figure correlate with the perception that so many roadblocks and 'papers' checks are little more than State-sponsored extortion stops?
When the average motorist is pulled over in a roadblock, what is his/her first thought? Most citizens would prefer that limited JCF resources were deployed to fighting serious crime. And let's face it, Jamaica has a serious crime problem. Unacceptably high rates of murder and other violent crimes suggest that the constabulary should have more pressing priorities than pursuing infractions such as a 'body part extending'.
So I urge the new police commissioner to instill some semblance of discretion among his new charges. Roadblocks, obvious speed traps, repetitive 'papers' checks, and misguided applications of the road act do little to instill confidence that the constabulary has its priorities right -- particularly in light of the 'lef' or write' options (read extortion) attending so many of these 'law enforcement' efforts. I lost count of the number of times I was pulled over during the recent holiday season. Hopefully the next holiday season will have less crime.
B S Wilson
Irish Town, St Andrew
Lots of traffic checks, but what about 'real' crime?
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Having recently been issued a ticket for a questionable violation of the road traffice act, it occurred to me that the island's crime problem must certainly have been solved.
Why else would the police have so much time to conduct repetitive 'papers' checks and to issue tickets for obscure breaches? My recent ticket was written as 'permit body extending', which actually sounded a bit obscene.
Living in Irish Town, a largely rural area, I customarily provide free rides to workers, students, and others in my community who would otherwise be reliant on a sub-par public transportation system. In this instance, I was transporting five fellow residents -- three inside the vehicle and two in the bed of the pickup -- to Papine when I was stopped and ticketed by a one-officer roadblock. Apparently one of the two passengers in the bed of truck had a 'body part extending'.
Living in Irish Town, a largely rural area, I customarily provide free rides to workers, students, and others in my community who would otherwise be reliant on a sub-par public transportation system. In this instance, I was transporting five fellow residents -- three inside the vehicle and two in the bed of the pickup -- to Papine when I was stopped and ticketed by a one-officer roadblock. Apparently one of the two passengers in the bed of truck had a 'body part extending'.
At a time when police-public relations are already severely strained (read Mario Deane), this sort of petty and misplaced application of the 'road act' seems anything but constructive. Of note, a recent poll conducted by Bill Johnson concluded that Jamaicans considered 80 per cent of the constabulary to be corrupt. Could this figure correlate with the perception that so many roadblocks and 'papers' checks are little more than State-sponsored extortion stops?
When the average motorist is pulled over in a roadblock, what is his/her first thought? Most citizens would prefer that limited JCF resources were deployed to fighting serious crime. And let's face it, Jamaica has a serious crime problem. Unacceptably high rates of murder and other violent crimes suggest that the constabulary should have more pressing priorities than pursuing infractions such as a 'body part extending'.
So I urge the new police commissioner to instill some semblance of discretion among his new charges. Roadblocks, obvious speed traps, repetitive 'papers' checks, and misguided applications of the road act do little to instill confidence that the constabulary has its priorities right -- particularly in light of the 'lef' or write' options (read extortion) attending so many of these 'law enforcement' efforts. I lost count of the number of times I was pulled over during the recent holiday season. Hopefully the next holiday season will have less crime.
B S Wilson
Irish Town, St Andrew
Lots of traffic checks, but what about 'real' crime?
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