Harsher sentences for public officials

THE EDITOR: My suggestion today may meet with instant disapproval and uproar, but I will nevertheless press on.

If there is one positive at all to be gleaned from the episode featuring our Commissioner of Police, it is this: no one in TT should be seen, or see themselves as being, above the laws as set out by the Constitution.

That being so, I trust that all patriotic citizens would join me in welcoming any and all official, evidence-based, factual, fair and transparent investigations into any of our public officials, be they career public servant or political appointee. From the ruling party, the opposition or non-partisan.

Additionally, I have long considered the idea of "amplified" penalties for public officials who are found guilty of any criminal act that may be construed to be an abuse of their individual office.

More to my point, I would like to suggest that Parliament passes a bill that would double the fines and custodial sentences of any public servant found guilty of a crime; and for members of the protective services and elected officials, multiply those penalties by three.

In recent years we have seen reports of police officers being found guilty of human trafficking, extortion and even murder. We have also seen bribery cases brought against public servants and officials. It's high time that as a people we draw the line and make a stand that such behaviour by those in authority is wholly unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Also, the prospect of increased penalties should serve as a more aggressive disincentive against such activities.

One wonders what kind of reception the suggestion of such a change in the law would receive in TT.

In closing, I am reminded of the words of GK Chesterton: "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."

Perhaps it's time to make the criminal ideal as difficult so as to make it untried, unreliable and unacceptable as an option for our public servants?

Non sibi sed patriae (not for self, but for country).

G ELIAS

Cascade