Dear Editor,

Once again both as an ordinary citizen and as an attorney-at-law I was outraged to read the following in Stabroek News dated May 30, 2008.

“Police round up Agricola men

“Police yesterday morning rounded up close to a dozen men in the East Bank Demerara community of Agricola during a raid which the lawmen said was a routine exercise.”

Mr Editor, Chapter 16:01 Sec 17 of the Police Act of the Laws of Guyana reads as follows:

“17. (1) It shall be lawful for any member of the Force to arrest without a warrant—

(a) any person who commits in his view an offence punishable either upon indictment or upon summary conviction; or

(b) any person whom any other person charges with having committed a felony or misdemeanour; or

(c) any person whom any other person—

(i) suspects of having committed a felony or misdemeanour, or (ii) charges with having committed an offence punishable on summary conviction, if such other person is willing to accompany the member of the Force effecting the arrest to the police station and to enter into a recognisance to prosecute such charge; or

(d) any person whom such member of the Force finds disturbing the public peace; or

(e) any person whom he has good cause to suspect of having committed or being about to commit any felony, misdemeanour or breach of the peace; or

(f) any person whom he finds between the hours of eight o’clock in the evening and five o’clock in the morning lying or loitering in a highway, yard, or other place and not able to give a satisfactory account of himself.

(2) Without prejudice to the powers conferred upon a member of the Force by the last preceding subsection, it shall be lawful for any member of the Force, and for any person whom he shall call to his assistance, to arrest without warrant any person who within the view of any such member of the Force shall offend in any manner against any law and whose name and address shall be unknown to such member of the Force and cannot be ascertained by him.”

Mr Editor while one might excuse the predecessors of the present Commissioner of Police (ag) for carrying out such unlawful and illegal acts, ignorance of the law being no excuse, Mr Henry Green, a qualified attorney-at-law can have no excuse for ordering or permitting members of the force arbitrarily, indiscriminately and with no lawful excuse, picking up, as against arresting, willy-nilly, citizens of the state, in their efforts to arrest the crime rate in this country.

One reads of the raids in Buxton and Agricola; never in Port Mourant or Rose Hall or Leonora or Uitvlugt.

Mr Editor, this lawlessness must stop now. We are not living in a police state. History tells us of the results when we suffer the loss of our fundamental freedoms under a police state with a political agenda.

Yours faithfully,
R J Eleazar