Another Year, Another One-Note Dirge About The Police!

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]iriam (name altered to protect identity) is resident in Britain. She visits Saint Lucia often with her family. They own property here. Although their home has been broken into on several occasions, Miriam says they have felt fairly safe in Saint Lucia. But this year, during a traditional family Christmas visit, Miriam and her brother experienced what has become for so many permanent residents the worm in an otherwise perfect apple. It happened around 10 p.m. on 29 December 2018.

Walking home from Razmataz in Rodney Bay, Miriam and her brother were reportedly attacked by a man who attempted to rob them. Miriam’s bag was snatched off her arm. Her brother tried to wrestle it from the robber’s grip. In the process the bag landed a short distance from Big Chef Steakhouse, its contents scattered all over the road. Still their attacker did not give up. He made an attempt to pick up the bag. He had some kind of air gun, as Miriam recalled. He fired upon Miriam and her brother, causing them some “serious painful bruises”.

The sound of the gun attracted someone else’s attention. The would-be robber ran away and their rescuer handed his phone to Miriam so she could call the police. She ended up being far more concerned about the reaction of our protectors of life and property than she was about the actual assault by a stranger in the heart of the island’s tourism capital.

The first time she called, the individual who answered hung up on her. Miriam called a second time and was told the police were trying to get some transportation. Fifteen minutes passed, without sight of an officer of the law, never mind the nearby Rodney Bay substation. At about 11 p.m. the police visited Miriam’s house to take her statement. “We came to find out later that this preliminary statement had actually been lost,” said Miriam to this reporter. “We were advised to go to the Gros Islet Police Station the next day to make a written statement with a CID officer, but on arrival we were told no one was available to take down what we had to say.”

Miriam was advised to call later that day “to find out if it will be worth coming back” to make her statement. When she called she was directed to come to the station the following day. “I got the impression that no one was particularly interested, and if I didn’t go back to the police station it wasn’t something that would have been followed up,” Miriam said. Finally she met with an officer from the Criminal Investigations Department, but only because she insisted on not making an official statement in the lobby of the Gros Islet Police Station. “We waited for a CID officer to become available. We made our statement in his office.” The process was extremely rushed, with the officer interrupting to take a phone call. In the presence of Miriam and her brother, the officer said: “I’ll be done in two minutes.”

Miriam told this reporter that the robber was not masked, that she gave his description to the police. She also contacted the owners of Big Chef Steakhouse and 1st National Bank, which have CCTV cameras that may have caught the incident. Both entities were helpful to Miriam and she relayed the information to the CID officer. “He said he would look into it.” At press time Miriam had heard nothing more from the police. “I now am questioning if I even want to come back,” she said. “The disappointing response of the Saint Lucia Police Force suggests that if a very serious crime were to be committed, it would not be dealt with in any manner resembling professional.”

The Gros Islet Police Station directed me to call the police press office but my several attempts to speak with anyone have failed.