Our police are angels
Dwayne Mc Kenzie’s appointment to Inspector of Police demonstrates that Prime Minister Gonsalves lives up to his promise that “our police officers are angels.” If Dwayne Mc Kenzie is one of Gonsalves’ “angels” disguised as a cop, we should be terrified that one of his demons may approach us one day.
Dwayne Mc Kenzie is the police officer seen on film slapping, striking, abusing, and injuring Damali Phillips, 15 years old. Damali was one of approximately 300 police youth club members who traveled to St. Lucia for a retreat. Mc Kenzie was in charge of Damili Phillips. According to reliable reports, the retreat’s topic was dispute resolution. Mc Kenzie demonstrated himself to be a witless, tactless thug by assaulting and hurting young Damali.
On July 31, an assault and wounding happened. The parents went to the police station in an attempt to meet with Commissioner John. They haven’t seen him yet. According to a police statement, the institution has initiated an inquiry. On August 10, attorneys for the Phillips family wrote to Director of Public Prosecution Sejilla Mc Dowall, requesting that the rogue cop be brought to justice and face the full weight of the law. The DPP’s office stated on August 21 that a response is pending further information from the Commissioner of Police. More than a month has passed with no word from the DPP’s office. The letter was copied to Ralph Gonsalves, Minister of National Security. He never even bothered to acknowledge the mail.
Then followed the memo dated September 8th, signed by Commissioner John. Dwayne Mc Kenzie was at the top of the list. According to John’s memo, he lacks the authority, guts, and professional acumen to manage a modern police department. What self-respecting boss would promote a subordinate who was recently chastised in public for his horrific assault on a 15-year-old boy? Apparently, neither the police, Gonsalves, nor the DPP’s office bothered to look into Mc Kenzie’s criminal behavior, which was captured on film.
Dwayne Mc Kenzie’s elevation is unjustified. Rather than being promoted, Dwayne Mc Kenzie should be fired and made an example of. The marketing made a mockery of the government’s stated policy of toughness on crime and its causes.
Mc Kenzie’s promotion demonstrates that this government despises the concepts of fair play, fairness, and the rule of law.
These actions by the police and the government do not inspire trust. But we’ve said it before: this government is a mafia! No other government shows such flagrant disdain for the judges’ orders and declarations. The courts award monetary damages and costs, and the government “thumbs its nose” at the decision. Police officers shoot and kill citizens, and coroners’ inquests are held at the discretion of the government.
Officers convicted of putting 15-year-old Jemark Jackson in a coma by beating, stomping, and kicking him have been rehired. A court ruled the state accountable for Jackson’s brutal assault, but the state refused to settle. Jackson, who died in strange circumstances more than a decade later, went to his cemetery without receiving a single penny.
On March 3, 2019, police officer Mohammed Lavia shot Okeno Fergus in the left leg, shattering the bone, in an unprovoked attack. Fergus testified in court that after he was shot, Lavia said to him, “tek dat in yo stupid mother c#@t.” The police went on to frame Fergus, who had to fight his case all the way to the Appeal Court.
Fergus successfully sued Lavia and the state for compensation for his injuries. “I cannot understand what would drive a police officer to treat a resident of any country in the manner Cpl. Lavia treated Mr. Fergus that morning,” Justice Esco Henry wrote in his decision. It was brutal, merciless, aggressive, and completely unwarranted. In a democratic society where the rule of law governs the administration of justice and society, the court cannot tolerate such behavior… If there was ever a case that drew exemplary, aggravated, and large general damages for loss, damage, physical, emotional, and mental harm, this is it.”
One would assume that with such a definitive judgement from a highly respected court, the government would settle. The controlling regime’s policy is similar to that of the German Nazis in the latter days of World War II. When Allied forces approached them and ordered them to surrender, they preferred death, yelled “Surrender hell,” and were shot down. The Attorney General for Gonsalves has ordered that the doctors who treated Fergus be available for cross-examination.
When lawyers attempted to serve the officer who chased Cjae Weekes to his death at Twenty Hill, they were met with resistance from a police commissioner who demanded that we cite legal authority to justify our request.
During the carnival season, a police officer shot and killed “Bjay” Llewellyn at Fairbairn Pasture. The situation was handled in the most private of ways. Within a few days, the cop had left her residence. Llewellyn’s parents have been attempting in vain to learn the circumstances behind their son’s death. Station Sergeant Bristol, the investigating officer, and her superiors have refused to speak with the family counsel. They state that any demands must be directed to the commissioner’s office.
This heinous narrative of police wrongdoing, state collusion, and abuse of public trust demonstrates unequivocally that this government should not be taken seriously when it comes to crime and punishment. Citizens must learn the appropriate lessons and withdraw their political support from this conceited group of misrulers.
