Dear Editor,
Your Sunday July 5 paper carried a story about a mentally ill man being shot dead by the police. It reported that the police were claiming he attacked them with a cutlass, causing them to resort to the use of their weapons. It further mentioned that the man’s relatives had a totally different version of what transpired.
Editor, for as long as I can recall every time someone is shot and killed by the police their version is always that they were attacked with a weapon. If indeed what the police are claiming is true, then what it says is that the police need more training in disarming persons. They could have injured him in his legs; they did not have to kill him.
Coming back to the account of the man’s relatives, this warrants a thorough investigation. Over the years every time the police killed someone they claimed that the person attacked them with a weapon, which I found to be untruthful most of the time.
The time has come for the police force to get rid of trigger-happy policemen. For too long our law enforcement officers have been shooting citizens with impunity.
I believe that investigations into these matters should be conducted by an independent body other than the police, since I am afraid that they will not conduct an impartial investigation.
In light of this most recent allegation in relation to a police killing, I am calling on the Public Security Minister to launch a thorough investigation into the matter.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Crawford
