Tuesday, October 27 2009

The daring daylight robbery of a security firm last Saturday is another example of criminals raising the bar, yet again, in their unending campaign against society. Unfortunately, there is no matching or even catching-up campaign on the part of the police in response.

According to the reports in the media, two persons, one dressed as a police officer and one in the uniform of the Mi5 Security Company, arrived at the Woodbrook office of the company and asked the lone officer on duty to let them in. Because she knew the person in the Mi5 uniform, she unlocked the door. The men placed a gun to her head, beat and tied her and helped themselves to at least 12 guns, all of which were said to be “fully loaded with live ammunition.”

This act of bravado on the part of the growing bandit element in our society is just another case of criminals thumbing their noses at the law enforcement agencies. And with a series of crimes and other incidents occurring within the ranks of the police service, we must wonder if there is anyone in the service, or indeed outside — certainly we know of no one in the Ministry of National Security — who can reverse this very troubling trend. In the past we have seen cocaine and guns hidden in the ceiling of a police station, a police officer “taking home” court exhibits of packages of cocaine, a woman gunned down by bandits within the precincts of a Police Station and a murder accused in custody assassinated in the precinct of the Rio Claro Magistrates’ Court.

With all of these negatives adding up against the Police Service, we must wonder if the bandit in the gun raid was “wearing a police uniform” or whether he was actually a police officer. In any event, there have been cases mentioned where officers are actually said to be renting out their guns and uniforms for bandits to conduct their nefarious business.

Of course, it was not a police station which was robbed—it was a private security firm. But the ease with which the crime was completed tells us much about the security of arms and ammunition in these companies. And what rules and regulations do the owners of the many security firms follow, and indeed who do they hire? It is reported that the person whom the officer on duty “recognised” as a former employee was an ex-inmate of the Youth Training Centre. Yet he had been hired as a “security officer” and given a uniform. We do not know if he had been precepted to carry a gun himself, but he certainly knew where the loaded guns were stored in a steel box which was not difficult to open.

Why were the guns not locked away in a proper, secure area? Why were the guns placed into storage “fully loaded”? Surely all weapons must be carefully unloaded before they are stored, and carefully loaded when taken out again, with the ammunition being counted and recorded each time.

The Commissioner of Police, unavailable for comment most of Sunday, told reporters that he was waiting on a report on the incident. We are “running guns” into the hands of criminals via those being paid to protect us, and the CoP is awaiting a report? He should read the reports in the media.