Dear Editor,

(This is an open letter to the Commissioner of Police)

The New Year 2013 started with a very unpleasant encounter with some members of the police highway patrol. The incident occurred on the Mandela Highway, in close proximity to the Highway 2000 entrance ramp. About midnight, my wife and I and our two children, ages one and six years old, along with another female companion were returning from a New Year’s Eve church function. We were heading to Old Harbour from New Kingston.

My wife was driving and I was seated in the back of the vehicle sleeping, with my one-year-old baby in my arms. I was awoken by the siren from a highway police vehicle, which signalled my wife to stop. One of the two officers walked over to the vehicle and indicated that they were doing a spot check and asked for the vehicle papers and driver’s licence. Unfortunately, my wife’s driver’s licence was left in another of her handbags at home and all the vehicle documents were left in my work bag.

I explained to the officers that I was the one who drove to the function; but because I was very tired and sleepy after staying out late the night before, in an abundance of caution, my wife insisted on driving, not realising that she did not have her licence in her possession. The officer indicated that driving without a driver’s licence was an offence and threatened to arrest her on the spot. I asked him to use his discretion and to allow her to present her licence within 24 hours.

The officers replied that could be the case if there was no other offence. When I enquired what the other offence was, the officer pointed to the rear licence plate light, which was not working. He was adamant that since my wife did not have her driver’s licence in her possession, I should drive the vehicle down the road so he could stop the vehicle again and ticket me for the offence. He noted, in the Jamaican dialect, that “somebody afi get ticket tonight” or he had to arrest my wife.

when I refused to comply with his directives, he said the choice was up to me. I told him that I would rather sleep in the vehicle until morning, at which point he said he was working all night and had all the time to waste. Surprisingly, both officers went back into the patrol vehicle, reversed a distance from our vehicle, turned off the head lamps and the siren lights and left us in utter darkness. While we sat in the car for about half an hour not knowing what to do, we began to question the real motive of these officers. After several futile attempts to get through to the police emergency number 119, I was able to call police control on 972-7778, which was luckily stored in my phone.

I explained the situation to the control officer on the phone, who was not only very helpful and concerned about the babies in the vehicle, but was also amazed by the turn of events. The control officer asked me if I could get some information to identify the officers. It was very dark and the patrol vehicle was some distance away, so I attempted to walk closer to the vehicle to see the vehicle number. Realising that I was on my phone and walking towards the vehicle, the officer started and continued reversing the vehicle, while I tried to approach it closer. The police control officer was still on the phone as I related what was happing.

In an ironic twist, the two officers turned on their headlamp and siren light (no sound) and drove off. At this time, I was able to see the vehicle number and related it to the control officer on the phone. Being left alone in the dark, and concerned about our safety, I went into the vehicle and drove off in the same direction. Suddenly, the patrol vehicle stopped and upon passing them, they drove up behind us, with the siren on, indicating that I should stop.

While all this was happening, police control was still on the line and I told them that I was scared to stop. My wife, six-year-old daughter and the other female passenger began panicking. Police control, while cautioning me to stop, advised me that I could drive to the Spanish Town police station. At this time, I observed that another team of police from the Mobile Reserve was ahead of us and I attracted their attention by tooting my horn continuously.

I related the situation to the Mobile Reserve team and showed one of them my driver’s licence. The highway patrol officer then took my licence from the Mobile Reserve officer and wrote a ticket, which was a fine of $2,500 for the defective licence plate light. I ended the call with police control after they contacted the highway patrol officers via the police radio system. I left the scene immediately in dismay and shock. I want like to find out if the conduct of these two officers was within the law, or if any of our rights were infringed.

Ricardo Hall

ricohall@hotmail.com