Police: H.R.C.B. hinder, not help sometimes
As police continue to post an all-points bulletin for double trouble duo Jermaine Fuentes and Ian Sutherland, we couldn’t help but be reminded of what happened to the last wanted pair: Kirk “Psycho” Thompson and Edmund Velasquez. Even after their deaths were attributed to drowning, the widespread public perception was that the police had a hand in their demise. Already, street sentiments are that Fuentes and Sutherland will turn up in similar circumstances. Crime and its impact on society were the topics on the table during Thursday night’s One on One, and soon the discussion turned the repeated allegations of police brutality. While police press relations officer G. Michael Reid condemned abuse, the involvement of authorities like the Human Rights Commission was another matter all together.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
“We need a Human Rights Commission to ensure that the rights of people are being protected, but it shouldn’t be used to protect the rights of criminals who many times are just crying wolf.”
Dickie Bradley
“But you know, even animals have rights. The City Council poisoned some dogs and it was a major problem because of the cruel manner in which the dogs died. You can’t kill a baboon, you can’t shoot a Johncrow, you can’t kill a manatee. They have rights. You can’t cut down tree like one time.”
G. Michael Reid
“But let we put this in the right perspective. You have a mangy dog that’s running about loose, and I have my dog that I spend a lot of money on, and now your dog is coming in my yard and pass on that mange to my dog. That dog is trampling on my dog’s rights. You got to do what you got to do.”
Dickie Bradley
“A man is not a dog.”
G. Michael Reid
“Well you’re the one that brought that up.”
Dickie Bradley
“Even animals have rights and a man can be accused of the worse crime, but he has rights. He’s entitled to get water to drink, he’s entitled to get a bath, he’s entitled to see him family.”
G. Michael Reid
“Nobody is against this.”
Dickie Bradley
“But that is the role of the human rights people, to see that the law is carried out. He is entitled to be protected in police custody, so nobody takes electrical implements and shock his testicles. He’s entitled to see that nobody puts a bag over his head and beat him; he’s entitled to that.”
G. Michael Reid
“The Police Department itself have implemented programmes and have the infrastructure in place to provide for this. This is not to say that we can’t have the watchdog group there…”
Dickie Bradley
“Then the human rights are going to be supportive of things?”
G. Michael Reid
“But are they really?”
One on One can be seen in its entirety on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. right here on Channel 5.
