IT is truly painful to see a handsome young man, cut down with such haste and unprofessional conduct by a policeman.  I do believe that had the Community Police not called for the Police to respond, this youngster would still be alive today. If they are not trained in patience, then patience must be part of the curriculum for police, henceforth.

It was a youth, swift and agile, seeing the Police, he decided to run.  Some Police from my understanding think that because a person flees, and they hail out to stop, failing which they can fire.  Even if the person is a hardened criminal or one who just committed a simple act, why is it the Police cannot fire in the lower part of the body, instead of the head or above waist?

More so, why did the policeman not fire on this student on his leg or buttocks, but he had to fire to kill?  Then, imagine the mental state of the policeman right now, he did what he was trained to do, he responded to a simple incident but reacted as a policeman dealing with hard core criminals.  Many lives are lost and messed up with this lack of patience by the Policeman.  A young man is now dead; we have lost a precious youth!  His family and relatives are devastated, and the Policeman’s life is now in jeopardy as he will have to face many years awaiting trial. He has to live with prisoners he may have put there, and in prison there exists a family relation amongst the inmates.

He will be abandoned by the Police Force; he will have to find monies to pay his lawyers for his defence, and may incur financial destruction to his family.  If he is married and has children, his wife and children will suffer; his parents will be in constant lamentation, and in the end he may have to face the gallows.  One wrong act impedes so many lives.  Then his future is finished and is hopeless, as the life he took.  Imagine his mental state, how he is suffering for which he is responsible.   These policemen get carried away with their mandate and must judge the severity of reports before planning a reaction to the crime.  Misbehaviour of students would be attended to by the juvenile squad, or the community police.

It is important to notice that not only civil society is objecting to the policeman’s action, but so does the Police Management itself and the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs.  And while it was a truly despicable act, there is “due process,” which has to be respected.  The Police do not charge people for murder instantaneously, ever, they have to investigate, conduct forensics, consult with their legal minds, even the DPP, and then charges are laid.
I note that certain characters who use any occasion to highlight themselves in the newspapers, are always critical of the Police, Ministers and the President, and are always at the forefront of protests, which seems to highlight themselves as leaders of people so they can get some political note.  Some are known for their self-centeredness and political ambition, liking to see themselves in the newspapers and electronic media, hoping to be political leaders, or if not a kind of warlord(s).

We have seen and continue to see the police taking serious actions against their very own, as we saw recently with a Sergeant of Police involved in an armed robbery in the West Coast.

People must not run away from the Police when they are stopped or called at or else some may think they are guilty and fire.  It is wrong, but we are dealing with humans, they (Police) are human beings too and do commit mistakes at times.  Plus, we do have some Police who are trigger happy.  Did this Policeman ever thought that when he responded to the call that in a few minutes he would be facing a murder investigation and possible murder charge, with his life destroyed, as the life he mistakenly destroyed?  So many lives are destroyed.  Our country loses.