Dear Editor,
I find it interesting that the people who castigate the government the most over crime are the same ones crying over the fact the police commissioner and the government have placed the police force on 12-hour shifts.
I have a few things to say about that. To begin with, I am not fond of the police commissioner, the governing party or the misfits in the opposition party. They're all heartlessly ruthless when it comes to the common people who sustain them.
The editorial writers of the major newspapers have not given any rational thought to the Bahamian dilemma and who created it. They are as one-sided and two-faced as can be. I leave that for another time.
The police force is known to be the Royal Bahamas Police Force. I presume the uniform they wear belongs to the government of The Bahamas. The arms they bear likewise belong to the government of The Bahamas. The instruments they use also belong to the government of The Bahamas.
This question I pose: How is it then that these supposedly overworked men and women are allowed to become security guards at many businesses including grocery stores after having completed a shift at their regular jobs? These same "overworked" police officers can be seen guarding establishments using uniforms and weapons provided from the public purse.
Until this time when these people need them the most, they are joined in their complaints about being overworked which renders them unable to perform.
Maybe we will all be better served if members of the opposing party "who care so much for the people" don police uniforms and volunteer to truly show how much they care rather than profiling for every photographic opportunity to show the members of the governing party. They are all culpable in this charade of deceit.
There was a time when Dennis Morgan created the modern Royal Bahamas Police marching band. It traveled all over the world bringing accolades and appreciation to our country. They were good ambassadors.
Today, we have, in my opinion, something less than one would expect. On reflection there seem to me to be three or four police bands. Maybe I exaggerate, however the point is are they police officers or entertainers?
A year ago I watched for a short time what was supposed to be a beat retreat ceremony. I was appalled at what was displayed. Crass! No Class! It could not even be billed as third-rate entertainment. How come we have these third-rate bands popping up all over in the public service? Who pays for the uniforms and instruments they use on the private jobs, at hotels, at Junkanoo, at funerals, private concerts, etc.?
These "overtired policemen" can find time for everything under the sun to make extra money, yet it strains them to perform their public duties.
No wonder some of them are tired. Some of them look like pregnant elephants - male and female alike. Is there no mandatory fitness program for them to adhere to as police officers?
Of course this is not a new phenomenon. It appears a lack of discipline has been the norm for too many years.
In conclusion, the people of The Bahamas should demand more and better. The commissioner should not make promises he does not intend to keep. The government should demand more accounting for the people's money spent. The opposition should throw away the Republican Party's playbook which says oppose all, oppose everything that is good along with that which is not.
I have no advice for the newspapers as they are all Gods unto themselves. They daily throw out the baby with the bath water and exalt the demon. They are beyond hope and common decency.
I do have some unsolicited advice for the governing party: Concentrate on doing what is good for the people.
The people of the Dominican Republic have it right: Care for your own before some stranger.
It would not surprise me one bit to learn that of all the people in the branches of government, I mean the politicians and indeed of the civil servants, per capita employ more expatriates in their homes and offices, private and public, than they do people they represent.
Indeed this is a land of hypocrites, not to speak of those pretentious church leaders who live like kings as they strut across the stage of life while their members, nay brothers and sisters, barely scratch out the essentials and are told constantly to give, give, give. When you are unable to give then we will give you a going away service which we will charge your survivors for.
When I was a boy every church had several services on Sunday and others throughout the week along with morning and afternoon Sunday school. That practice has disappeared along with prayer meetings. Today we have expensive majestic buildings with no God inside other than the preachers dressed to kill in silk brocade and $1,000 shoes which the congregation pays for unknowingly.
Yes, the police department has gone to the dogs and the country along with it. Indeed the dogs have been let out. Now is it too late to ask: "Who let the dogs out?" Too late, too late, is the cry! Dogs done gone!

- George Capron

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