| – also cite abuse of security cameras Minibus operators protested outside the Ministry of Public Security yesterday, after what they deemed was continuous victimisation from a police sergeant stationed at the Georgetown-based Bus Parks.Minibus operators protesting outside the Ministry of Public Security yesterday.The demonstration attracted a dozen minibus drivers and conductors from the 40 to 45 terminals, all sharing similar grievances over the same sergeant.The sergeant, according to some of the protestors, had managed to coerce lower ranking officers into instituting unnecessary charges on the bus drivers. This, in addition to a number of court appearances, has proven to be a huge inconvenience to the bus operators.The demonstrators feel that this victimisation comes as a result of them speaking out against police collecting bribes from drivers.With his placard reading “We Voted for Change! Where is the Change?”, Mark Hopkinson,jerseys nfl wholesale, a driver,Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys, told this publication that he has been demanding justice against the police officer’s actions for at least two years.Bus driver, Mark Hopkinson (right) addressing police officers.Hopkinson related that in 2013, the then corporal had arrested and physically assaulted him while he was in custody.“Now that he (the officer) is a sergeant, he is still victimising me,Wholesale Adidas Hockey Jerseys,” said Hopkinson, “sometimes he brings 10 summons and give me one time… anything they see me do,Cheap NFL Jerseys, they give me a summons. And I feel that’s really unfair.”He added that when he would go to court the hearing would subsequently be dismissed since the sergeant would be absent. He said that the police are not respecting his time because on most occasions they are not present at the court.Hopkinson said that following the aforementioned assault, he had gotten a “medical” and wrote to the former Minister of the then Ministry of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee. He said that he did not receive a response from the former Minister on the matter, but is hoping that current Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, would take some form of action.Further compounding the minibus operators’ problems,Cheap China Jerseys, Hopkinson noted, was that the police appear to be using security cameras in the area against them,Stitched Jerseys, instead of fighting crime. He opined that the cameras serve a positive purpose in the Stabroek Market area in relation to criminal activity, but the police are not effectively using it for that purpose.The very criminals who steal on a regular basis, Hopkinson said, continue to do so,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, despite calls from those in the area, including the bus operators, to use the cameras to help with related investigations.“Cameras are not helping out with the crime situation, it just helping out with charges against minibus operators,” said the driver.Andrew Michaels, a driver at the Number 40 bus terminal, was also of the opinion that the police use the cameras to unfairly charge drivers. He added that the abuse of security cameras has led to unnecessary fines which the drivers are finding difficult to pay.“Every time you go to court they adding more money to the charges and once you can’t pay that amount you’re going to jail,” said Michaels. The bus driver proposed that a solution would be for the new Minister to lower the fines for the charges that minibus drivers must regularly face.While Kaieteur News was on the scene, a number of police officers were seen collecting reports from the protestors on the matter. |
