On Saturday, November 28, 2009 at around 6.45 pm in the presence of several residents of Le Destin, police officers instructed a visibly drunken driver to sit behind the wheel of a motor car and drive behind the police vehicle to their place of residence. This was done despite entreaties from residents who had conducted a citizens’ arrest of the driver of the said vehicle.
The vehicle in question was earlier seen in the East Bank Essequibo village of Le Destin driving at high speed going in an easterly direction, when it spun around suddenly and stopped facing westward on the roadway. Upon investigation of the vehicle several residents of the area found the adult occupants and the driver to be visibly under the influence of alcohol. This discovery prompted the citizens’ arrest. Rather than respond to the seriousness of the situation the police disregarded the drunken state of the driver and allowed him to continue on his journey.
I consider this a serious breach of the traffic laws. I also consider this a serious breach of the code of conduct which governs police officers. If I am wrong, someone in the police force should inform me of this.
I ask that the commander of D Division conduct an investigation into this incident and the conduct of the police officers in question. Furthermore, I also call on the police to issue instructions to the public on what they should do if faced with such a situation. Drunken driving is responsible for many of the traffic deaths and accidents on our roadways, and for the police to blatantly disregard the drunkenness of any driver raises serious questions about the nature of police training.
Yours faithfully,
Wazir Mohamed
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Commissioner of Police Henry Greene for any comments he might wish to make.
