This is not the first time that I have spoken on this subject and so I will be as brief as possible even though I am not convinced I won’t have to do so again.
(Two things really).
(1) THE RIGHT OF POLICE OFFICERS TO HAVE AND EXPRESS AN OPINION
I wish I had a dollar for each time an officer of the JCF tells me, please Mr. Beckles continue to speak out on our behalf, no one else does.
This really breaks my heart.
“The gazetted ranks do not speak out for us and in many cases, they are used to persecute us” they lament.
Shocking, yet they tell me, “we cannot wait to see what you have to say but we do not comment or share your articles because they will use that to penalize us”.
I never hesitate to tell them that there are a lot of us ex-police officers who do worry about their concerns, their safety, and their welfare if no one else does. A great many of us are not just ex-cops who gather to drink rum and play dominoes. (nothing wrong with the latter really), it’s just not our thing.
Sure , I understand that law enforcement departments generally have rules governing media policy and admittedly officers have to be circumspect in what they do, including on websites and social media.
Nevertheless, the police have had onerous restrictions placed on their right to free speech which clearly has constitutional implications not to mention the moral considerations.
I write facts. Facts which are not always palatable to Jamaica’s social elites. I write facts which are generally inconvenient to the political caste as well as the criminal fraternity. The lines between the latter two are sometimes very difficult to distinguish.
It frightens me that our police officers would be bullied by their own Government to the point they are petrified to respond to an article they find liberating. This brings into question the authenticity of our so-called Democracy in real ways.
But the very same Government has tabled a bill and passed an INDECOM law which takes away their right to have a few days to gather their wits before giving a full written accounting of their actions in shootouts in cases in which they are traumatized and sometimes injured and seen their colleagues killed.
Former Commissioner George Quallo spoke out about this detailing accounts he has seen with young officers emerging from shootouts shaking and crying from the enormity fo their encounter, yet the INDECOM law forces them to give statements even in their mentally traumatized state.
Commissioner George Quallo was forced out for not following the government’s orthodoxy, on this and on other issues concerning the welfare of his officers.
Despite the detractors, this medium and this writer salutes Commissioner Quallo for not carrying water for the government.
The Police again had their rights impugned in the recently passed Zones of Special Operations law(ZOSO), in which the administration attached an amendment which criminalizes them for leaving the department without giving a six-month notice.
The police is not a military force, officers should have no restrictions placed on their God-given right to leave whenever they want to, including without even submitting a resignation like I did in 91, I simply dropped everything and walked away.
(2) “SQUADDY”
One of the things which have been used pejoratively to bash Police officers in Jamaica over the years is the word “SQUADDY”. That assault was basically engineered by Carolyn Gomes the pediatric doctor turned human rights advocate.[sic]
Carolyn Gomes was eventually exposed for pushing homosexual literature on under age Jamaican kids in Government care. Of course not before receiving the Order of Jamaica. Go figure.
The word squaddy continue to be tarred and feathered in pejorative terms as a kind of terminology which gives aid and comfort to dirty cops, some kind of code of silence if you will.
The only problem is that Carolyn Gomes had no more idea about what squaddy meant to cops than I know how to treat a colicky baby.
The one endearing term which police officers had to refer to their colleagues was too much for them to have and so they launched a campaign of demonization against it. The poor people’s children should not have anything, not even a term of endearment to their colleagues with whom they sacrifice together for their country.
And so it is not outside the realm of possibility that some of the bottom-feeding social climbers who have invaded the police department and have been pushed to the top do not themselves understand es.prit de corps. They are not cops and never will be.
The anti-police village lawyers who never served in anything but gossip groups were quick to gobble up the demagoguery, like a running back they grabbed it and ran with it.
And now the nation’s chief demagogue, Terrence Williams has it and he is running with it.Every chance that Charlatan gets he speaks about the squaddy mentality in a way that belies the endearment police officers feel when we say “squaddy”.
If only this ignorant narcissistic little media whore took the time to ask an officer what the word means to him or her he would not continue to embarrass himself the way he does whenever he opens his mouth to speak. The wall of silence he sees encapsulated in the word “squaddy” exist only in his twisted mind.
“SQUADDY”
Commissioner of INDECOM
Although I have written about this on previous occasions, I will do so once again in the interest of clarity, or until this farcical liar stops.
Military, police officers and other groups the world over develop special bonds of friendship and camaraderie. That bond of kindred spirit is evident in cadet corps, girls and boys scout troupes, cub scouts etc.
It is evident in college fraternities something Carolyn Gomes and Terrence Williams should have been conversant of since they are both college educated.
I guess they missed those campus activities as they were too busy making mischief to engage in positive campus activities.
Whether it’s cub scouts, girls/boys scouts college fraternities police departments or whatever, those bonds are the memories we carry in our hearts for the people whom we spent those times with. They form the ties which bind us into service and common cause. Those bonds provide networking for college graduates which ensures if one succeeds all succeed.
They are the ties which bind police officers when we say “squaddy,“because we depend on one another not to leave our brothers on the battlefield when we are shot and lay there bleeding. We are not ashamed of it, we will never be ashamed of it ‚get used to it.
It is that kindred spirit which says we stand with you when no one else will. That spirit of camaraderie which celebrates and commemorates our colleagues who we depend on to protect our backs as we engage those who would destroy society.
This is something dear to us and we will never feel bad about it.
We will never be told, neither will we ever abandon the es.prit de corps, that feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty we feel and share.
And so to the lying, selfish self-serving Saul of Tarsus otherwise called (Terrence Williams) I say try service to others. Try doing something other than self-promotion and self-aggrandizement. Try belonging to something bigger than yourself and your narrow self-interest and maybe, just maybe you will feel a little bit of the pride we feel when we say “SQUADDY”.
Read about Saul of Tarsus, take heed.……