The Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) will, this year, be getting tough with men who wear their pants on their buttocks and expose some parts of the body.
That’s the warning coming from Commissioner of Police James Clarkson who told reporters on Monday that the move is aimed at bringing back morality into the country. Clarkson said there are some young men who forget where their waist is located, and are now being followed by some women who do the same thing by wearing their clothes at very low levels.
He said the crackdown by the lawmen is intended to remind these people about the proper dress code when in the public. Clarkson is also making a special appeal to parents to remind their children about the decent way to dress. It has been noted for sometime now that some school-aged children and young adults in their mid-20’s are often seen wearing their pants rather loosely in public. The island’s Chief Cop said that although there is nothing wrong in some pattern of dress code, the police have to look beyond this and into the future.
“Any time you allow lawlessness to start taking effect on your country, you have a problem. So we have to chop it little by little, step by step,” he said. During the press conference, the Commissioner brought the media up to date with what has been happening within RGPF since he assumed the position last August. He spoke of there being a positive turn around within the police force over the short period of time. “We still have some areas that we need to strengthen because it is funny when people are not used to a certain level of freedom to do certain things, when you give them that freedom they just don’t know how to handle it,” he added.
Commissioner Clarkson spoke of plans to decentralise the decision- making process in the force. “So it means I am bringing the decision closer to the service area, right down to the Constables. So this way they don’t have to wait on me or their senior officers to make a decision. They can make a decision right there, and when they make the decision my instruction to my senior officers, do not intimidate them, let them do their work,” he said. Another area being worked on by the Commissioner is providing a better quality working condition for female police officers aimed at improving their status in RGPF. “You will see the women moving forward because we think that they deserve it,” he said. About ten percent of the entire force is made up of female officers.
The much talked about Community Policing will also be improved under Clarkson’s watch. Clarkson, mindful that there isn’t a police station in each village, said he will utilise the police officers in their various villages by having them, at least once per month, work within their community. The Chief Cop basked in the fortune of there being a quiet Christmas Season which he said was not by chance. He said the quiet Christmas Season was largely due to “Operation Yuletide” which was instituted by the police as a means of deterring criminal activities.
He also reiterated his commitment to having a close working relationship with the media. “I really want a more active role with the press,” he quipped. According to Clarkson, members of his organisation get annoyed when he allows the media to be aware of what is happening within RGPF before they themselves are briefed. Officer in Charge of Operations, Superintendent Edvin Martin who joined the commissioner at the Press Conference focused on “Operation Yuletide.”
Supt. Martin said the RGPF is encouraged by the results they have had as a result of that police operation but voiced concerns over the use of offensive weapons. The high ranking police officer shared some information on a number of offenses that occurred. He said that as early as December 11, there was a stabbing incident in Gouyave, St. John’s which has now resulted in the death of a young man.
According to Supt. Martin, the accused man allegedly received the weapon from another individual. “So we see how not only you carrying weapons, but how deadly it can be when other persons carry it and then being made available to you,” he said. The senior police officer also made some comments about the presence in the society of some men who are dressed in black and armed with knives and cutlasses and causing fear to a number of people in the country.
He said these men are holding up people in alleys and robbing them of their possessions including cellular phones and the police are working to bring the situation under control. In recent days, a shop owner was also maimed by an individual whom he caught stealing cash from his shop. During the Christmas Holiday over 15 persons were arrested by the police for having in their possession offensive weapons.
Supt Martin warned that in 2009, the public will see “a much more asserted RGPF in terms of its approach against offensive weapons”.
Well done Mr clarkson!these ateps havve long been overdue.
Grenada had lost all sense of deceny,morality and law and order had been relegated to that of the jungle.
Grenad had become a country full of young men and women who seemingly toook no pride in themselves and who was behaving like lost sheep;a purely ghetto place.
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