Stop picking fights with experts, CoP

THE EDITOR: The constant almost daily attacks by the Commissioner of Police on people who either don’t agree with his policies and procedures or who “dare” offer constructive ideas is now too much for us to bear.

The CoP is making a fundamental error when he wrongfully sees law enforcement as separate from community policing. Commissioner, it’s all situational policing and the situation these days on the roads calls for smart community policing. The data shows the vast majority of citizens on the roads are law-abiding and mostly going about their legal activities, including essential workers needing to get to their jobs.

In fact, community policing will sanction the police to assist us in getting to our destinations faster and safer rather than repeatedly being bottle-necked in traffic jams.

Recently, renowned criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran correctly offered his views when the media asked him about how to improve policing in this covid19 period. The professor may be able to speak for himself, but the repeated attacks on him by the CoP were totally unjustified and scurrilous.

Citing the need for community policing and the exercise of discretion by the police within the existing legal framework, Deosaran rightfully pointed out that law enforcement and community policing go hand in hand, with the police having the right to use traditional law enforcement methods (hard policing) as well as community policing (soft policing), depending on the situation.

The professor has written a textbook on community policing as well as trained hundreds of officers on community policing, particularly under commissioners Guy and Snaggs. As university students, including police officers, we use this books. It is unequivocally misleading to assert that criminologists at the university don’t know anything about law enforcement.

The CoP is clearly missing the fact that law enforcement does not exist in a vacuum. We don’t need a CoP seeking to make the news daily by unfairly picking fights with experts and others, even magistrates.

Instead, improve the training of officers and tackle the rising murder and detection rates. Also, since when have former military servicemen become experts in policing?

KEVIN RAM

via e-mail