How on earth does a man slash his wife’s throat, stab her multiple times and still walk the streets afterward?. Something like this could only happen in a scary movie about corrupt police set in a rural location somewhere far away from civilization, right? It could never happen in real life, in a democratic nation, where police are paid to protect the citizens, right?
Wrong! This is exactly what happened this week right here in Guyana. And, in fact, this terrifying scenario plays itself out over and over again on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis.
According to the Webster’s dictionary, a police force is, “a : the department of government concerned primarily with the maintenance of public order, safety, and health and the enforcement of the laws… b : the department of government having as its principal function the prevention, detection, and prosecution of public nuisances and crimes.”
In other words, the police are to protect the citizens and enforce the laws. That is the job they are paid to perform. If there is a police officer who does not do that job, he or she must be fired. It really is that simple.
What does a properly functioning police force look like? Good question. I can tell you this: it would never allow a man who tried to brutally murder his wife back on the streets to finish the job.
A properly functioning police force does not mock victims of domestic violence when they come to report the abuse. It does not refuse to take a report from the victim or tell them to go back to the abuser or call the abuser to inform him about the victim’s visit. A properly functioning police force does
