By Dr Vitcor Look Loy

Two on duty police officers, doing their job a little too enthusiastically apparently roughed up a man who at 1:00 am was armed with a machete in public and threatening violence. The man sustained a broken arm and a laceration to his face. He was released without charges. The two police officers were charged, one with common assault and both with wounding.

This in essence is what I gleaned from an article in the Net News on September 2nd. I understand that one can be arrested for having pepper spray on one’s person and similarly a machete. There are people languishing in Northward Prison for the crime of “insulting the modesty of a woman”. One can be arrested without carrying any weapon, just for threatening violence.

I am clearly not a lawyer but I am unclear as to whether the police can pick and choose whom they arrest and charge with a criminal act especially when a weapon is involved and the person is threatening violence. A quick search of the criminal procedure code [2005 revision] reveals that “carrying an offensive weapon is a category C offense, it is arrestable and carries a possible two-year sentence with $2,000 fine.

Similarly “threatening violence” is a category B offence, it is arrestable and one may be incarcerated for three years. More seriously, “threatening violence at night” [1:00 am] is also a category B offence and arrestable and carries a possible five-year term in prison.

So are the police within their right to allow an obviously dangerous man the luxury of a summary pardon without his day in court?

If so what would be the rank of such an officer?

Should that man proceed back onto the streets at a later date and kill someone, is there any blame to be laid at the feet of that officer?

Are we as citizens of this increasingly more violent society satisfied that the police will now not only decide who is charged with what is clearly a serious criminal offence but also intimidate fellow officers by hauling them into court because an armed criminal was hurt?

Surely if the perpetrator of such a crime can be released possibly with an apology then an internal investigation could have assigned whatever blame there was to be assigned and the officers disciplined in-house. I also can confirm that misbehaviour in public office is not arrestable and it did not cost 1.5 million dollars for me to determine that.

If recent trends continue he possibly would have been only charged with theft of the machete and get off on appeal. Unless the police administration deal with officers in a reasonably fair manner and understand that while we sleep’ they are the ones on the street with machete welding, gun toting, unscrupulous people, then we will have an uncaring, unenthusiastic ineffective police service on whom we may not rely to put themselves in harm’s way for anyone of us.

On the other hand if they mollycoddle these people who are a law unto themselves, then we will continue to be held hostage in our own homes. Why all the politics of an arrest? No one is impressed; certainly not I.