Bribe-resistant detectives must be recognised

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 November 2016, 7:27 by Denis Chabrol

Eye On The Issues by GHK Lall

The nation learns of two detectives from the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) turning their backs on four million dollars, and then turning in those seeking to obstruct and pervert justice.  It is why giving up is never an option; and why blanket condemnation is always improper and flawed.

Four million in a lump sum is a lot of money for a lot of people in this country; it is for me.  Thus, I find it extremely heartening to learn of these two officers who resisted the overwhelming tide.  I urge public recognition and public praise; I urge on-the-spot promotions.  The supervisory officers of this unit from the Crime Chief and down are all to be congratulated for the ethics inculcated, the expectations spelt out, and the standards demanded, pursued, and maintained.  As all of this is written, there is keen awareness of the waiting low lying fruit, the lush temptations, and the easy pickings that abound.  It is why the actions of the two MCU detectives are even more stellar.

Citizens should reflect on how simple it is for evidence to be declared nonexistent; or a file to be rendered meaningless; or for it to disappear altogether, given the right financial incentives.  I submit that it is why there were so many unsolved felonies during the criminally prosperous era of yesteryear.  These were due to the acute and widespread venality of law enforcement professionals, financially abetting families, and the corresponding absence of political integrity in places of oversight.  Additionally, citizens should discern that many of those same corrupt cops are still around, but lying low, and searching for opportunities until exposed.  Further, citizens should also appreciate that the four million dollars extended could have been easily doubled or tripled were the MCU officer so inclined.  The financial wherewithal is there, or would have been located by the alleged mastermind.

Separately, this same murder tells how depraved and degraded this society has become; how the sacred precincts of the law have been laid waste; and how the political high priests came to epitomize an absolute lack of ethical moorings, and for which citizens have paid dearly.  It is that a man could be battered and killed because he spurns an alleged sexual advance; that the spurned can callously issue an order to kill without a second thought, or as though a life is last week’s garbage; that the same alleged mastermind has the arrogance to guarantee a cover-up, and that there is the presence of mind to depart the jurisdiction.  I look on to see what extradition moves might be in the offing.  Let this be a test case.

Meanwhile, those same political high priests have transformed themselves into professional crocodiles with a now ingrained refrain.  Listen to them cry: wee can barely mek a livin…”  These are the same circus tricksters who once ignored the criminal invasion and subversion of the police force and the heinous assaults on the national body and psyche.  Those who “caanmek a livin….” did succeed in making and empowering a brutal criminal class.  As a quick aside, if these known characters “caanmek a livin” how do those at the lower levels of the food chain fare?

Finally, it is good to observe besieged citizens (family members of the decedent) standing up, speaking up, and fighting up for justice and fair play.  It is just as good, and feels even better to praise the media for providing a channel for the common people to pressure for action and results.  This is where the little people are given platform and voice through view, critique, or appeal in the pursuit of fairness and truth.