A former inmate at the Richmond Hill prison who said he is now living a clean life wants to see a greater police presence around the island in light of the upcoming carnival season.
The ex-prisoner called THE NEW TODAY to point out that when former Commissioner of Police Edvin Martin was in charge of the men and women in uniform that especially around this time of year “you (will) see the police presence on the streets every day.”
He complained about the lack of “police patrol cars passing with the light, roadblocks in different junctions searching for weapons” as well as on the look-out for drivers on the road without a license.
According to the former prisoner, this kind of pro-active approach by the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) used to create “a psychological effect” on those criminal elements in the society.
“I don’t see this one (Commissioner Randy Connaught) doing that,” he said.
The former prison inmate acknowledged that Grenada presently do not have “no big set of crimes” but feared that the police now seem to “have the tendency to get complacent.”
He said there is always a need to keep the criminal elements “uncomfortable” especially at this time of the year with carnival around and thousands of visitors coming for the festival.
He insisted that a greater police presence around the country will make the criminal elements feel very uncomfortable especially if they are planning to execute some kind of illegal activity.
He said these law-breakers will be very uncomfortable out of fear that “the police are coming – they don’t know if they’re coming to raid – you don’t know what they’re coming to do and who they’re looking for.”
The ex-prison inmate referred to the just-ended carnival festival in neighbouring St Vincent and the Grenadines that ended with very limited criminal activities.
He said that island has been affected by a murder spree in recent years but due to “the active role” of the lawmen there were only two murders during the entire carnival celebrations.
“Everybody say the police did a good, good work,” he said, adding that, “The criminals and them who would have usually shoot people went inside – they didn’t come out – they take cover because the police presence was very heavy.”
According to the former prisoner, it is clear that the criminals in St Vincent “stayed in because they were very uncertain what would have happened to their own selves”.
He said the gangster knew that if they made “any wrong move, the police on your back.”