Was Wednesday’s police operation spearheaded by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Raymond “Beast” Matthew a signal that the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) is getting real tough and serious about the amount of illegal activities on the island?
THE NEW TODAY notes that since ASP Matthew returned to active duty a few weeks ago following a prolonged illness, it appears that the lawmen are taking the fight into some of the hotbed areas in the country against certain delinquent elements in the society.
“THE BEAST”, as this officer is known throughout the country, had built up a reputation over the years as a no-nonsense policeman who was prepared to hound down criminal elements all over the island.
Several civilians were known to shake in their boots if and whenever “THE BEAST” and his squad touched down in an area.
There were some issues involving the ASP that resulted in the disbandment of his much-feared squad.
Today, RGPF is in need of such a squad to take back total control of the ground from some of the criminal elements in the society.
It is always better for one to use what they have until better can emerge.
It is in this context that full support is given to ASP Matthew and his team to continue along the current path in order to send a clear message to all and sundry that RGPF is willing to carry out its mandate to protect and serve the nation.
Anyone passing through the St George’s Market Square on a daily basis cannot help but notice the lack of a police presence to deal with the amount of open illegal activities taking place there.
It also appears that the Police have surrendered some parts of the island to the criminals and for whatever reason do not venture into these zones to stamp their authority.
The re-entry of ASP Matthew can help turn the tide as he has the penchant and appetite to take on the law-breakers and make them understand that there is a price to be paid for their activities.
What is also sad is that the illness of ASP Matthew provided an opportunity and opening for an officer or two in RGPF to rise to the occasion and take off from where he left off but that void was never filled.
In the hay days of West Indies cricket, the batting and fast bowling departments were aplenty with talent and an injury could result in someone having difficulties to regain his spot on the team due to the performance of his replacement.
This is not the case in our local police force as it seems to be lacking in talent. Is it due to laziness on the part of some police officers or the belief that many enter RGPF merely for the pay cheque?
It is well known that “THE BEAST” had expressed an interest and willingness to cut short his absence from RGPF on account of his illness and to come back out on the job to help the Police Force deal with an upsurge of criminal activities on the island.
He felt strongly that he did not have to go out in the field but had the ability to sit in an office and plot strategies to help his colleagues in the force to curb the activities of those criminal elements.
It is quite clear that “THE BEAST” means business and if given a free hand by the High Command, the country will be better off as a number of hotbed areas will see their activities disturbed and interrupted very often by the police in the coming weeks.
The ASP is seemingly gathering intelligence on the ground about the trouble spots in order to move into them in short order.
This could be a win-win situation for RGPF as civilians tend to provide information to the police if they perceive the lawmen to be serious in tackling crime and putting everyone involved under the microscope.
THE NEW TODAY also wants to address information coming to hand about an aspect of the illegal activities taking place in the country especially in gun-running.
It appears that the island is increasingly becoming a major transshipment point for cocaine coming from Colombia and Venezuela and making its way up the islands into places like Martinique and the British and U.S Virgin islands.
The drug cartels who control the trade are sending in guns and ammunition to locals who are then given the responsibility to protect “the goods” until it reaches the next destination.
It is being advanced that one of the reasons why few guns were handed over to the police in the amnesty is due to the fact that most of the weapons are not owned by locals but can be considered as “guns for hire” and belong to the cartels in Colombia and Venezuela.
It is as simple as this – one cannot hand over to the police what does not belong to them.