<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid concerns expressed by some that the youths on the block are stigmatized, a call has gone out from Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves for members of the constabulary to improve their relationship with those youths who are not hardened criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That appeal came on\nMonday during a press conference at Cabinet room as the Prime Minister spoke of\nwhat he said were plausible allegations made recently by a number of young\npeople with whom he has had conversations both at his office and at the Milton\nCato Memorial Hospital where he met them initially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Twelve of them\ncame to see me – a shopkeeper, a male, his girlfriend and 10 other young men. I\nhave their details. We had a long conversation and during the conversation I\nasked the commissioner if he was winding up his meeting, his usual Friday\nmeeting,” Dr Gonsalves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indicating that they\nyoung persons were from the average family, Prime Minister Gonsalves said:\n“The first thing to observe is that every single one of them went to\nsecondary school. Some of them had CXCs, some dropped out at For 3 or Form 4.\nOne was from the Grammar School who had 9 CXCs – he went to Community College,\nhe dropped out from the associate degree because he was informed by someone or\nhe received the information that the associate degrees are not accredited, they\nain\u2019t worth anything, so he left.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister\nGonsalves added: “We have to be careful what we say eh. People are\nlistening. We have to be careful. Young people are listening.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Prime Minister said\nthat, responding to his request, the Commissioner of Police and senior officers\nwent to his office and joined the conversation with the young men and the young\nlady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to commend the\npolice on helping to make us safer. But I am concerned that some police\nofficers who are confronting persons who are not hardened criminals – because persons who are hardened criminals,\nI\u2019ve said before you\u2019re not obliged to recite the beatitudes to them \u2014 but I\nwant to make a plea for better relationship between the police and young men on\nthe block for a greater understanding of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd these men on the\nblock, they have their rights, individual rights and freedoms and some matters\nhave come to my attention where there are plausible allegations that sometimes\nsome police officers are not as scrupulous as they ought to be in their\nprofessional pursuit of their duties and within the four walls of the law,\u201d Dr\nGonsalves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister\nGonsalves said that one of the young persons was a footballer whom he had dealt\nwith before, him having sustained an injury, and another had played cricket for\nthe under-15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“All of them are\narticulate. Of course, most of them hadn’t written any subjects. A couple of\nthem are doing farming, one or two of them are in construction, electrical work\nand the like. And, of course, one of them openly said ‘Prime minister, I am not\na saint\u2019,\u201d Gonsalves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut how many saints\nare there in the world?” Dr Gonsalves asked. “I can\u2019t remember\nanybody being canonised as a saint from St. Vincent and the Grenadines as yet.\nAnd even saints are sinners who have come to redemption.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Gonsalves said that\nfrom the conversation that flowed, including during the presence of the police\ncommissioner and his senior officers, “there are things which the police\nhave to pay attention to.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you take people\u2019s\ncell phones and you examine them, you must return them with promptitude to\npeople. If somebody tells you he is a farmer and you take his tools, which a\nresponsible person had purchased for him, because he works with a responsible\nperson on a farm, if you take the tools because you might have a suspicion – I\ndon\u2019t know – those tools should be returned with promptitude. They are not part\nof any criminal enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t also go to\nsomebody place, break down the door and mash up furniture inside, you are a\npolice. You can\u2019t do that,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Prime Minister said\npersons have to make sure in this small country that they do their best to live\nin peace and to have tolerance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know there are\nhardened criminals from out at that area where last year, a couple of persons\ndied, or were killed. I don’t know whether by people in the area or people who\nhave gone into the area. I don’t know. I\u2019m not commenting on that. But I\u2019m\ncommenting on the broad issue. Because, if the police don\u2019t function in\nrelation to young people, in a manner with sensitivity, you can create problems\nadditional to those which exist. At the same time, the police, they are\nfrontline in establishing law and order. So, I say I want to put this question\nout there and for the young people to know, and the general public to know that\nI had a long conversation with these twelve persons, these twelve young\npeople,” Dr Gonsalves said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister\nGonsalves said he is “hoping to continue to have a conversation like that\nand with others.” He, however, noted that those allegations were not new\nto him because as a practicing lawyer, he knew of many cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amid concerns expressed by some that the youths on the block are stigmatized, a call has gone out from Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves for members of the constabulary to improve their relationship with those youths who are not hardened criminals. That appeal came on Monday during a press conference at Cabinet room as the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news","category-mainstory","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n