Dear Editor,
On behalf of all the lesser mortals and ‘nobodies’ in our dear land, I wish to enquire why, in the 21st century, we are required to appear before a magistrate to answer charges related to minor traffic offences and are treated by officers of the Guyana Police Force as though we’re criminals.
On June 15, 2016, I was on my way to work so I could contribute to the taxes that pay judges, magistrates, police officers, the myriad of other public servants, etc. I decided to take a cell call when my vehicle had come to a stop at the junction of Mandela and the Houston bypass where three police officers were directing traffic. One police officer saw me on my phone and assumed I was using my cell phone while driving, a traffic offence I’m patently aware of, and alerted his colleague who escorted me down to the Ruimveldt Police Station where I was made to pay $10,000 station bail.
Much to my surprise, I was slapped with two charges, one regarding the use of the cell phone, which I expected, and another one where I allegedly drove through the traffic lights. Unless I’m a mad person, I really cannot fathom how or why an officer of the law would misrepresent the facts of a situation in such a manner.
In sum, I pleaded not guilty to both charges and the magistrate set the hearing for another day. Fearing that this may be an ongoing charade and an exercise in futility, I politely offered to pay whatever fines the court saw fit just to move on with my life. The fines amounted to $15,000.
You mean to tell me that in this 21st century, we cannot review the list of minor traffic offences and display these conspicuously (a website, Facebook?) as part of a system that allows offenders to pay the related fines without subjecting them to such harrowing experiences? Isn’t there anyone with the administrative skills who could implement such a system? We belabour the fact that the court system is so over-burdened and has a major backlog of cases, yet we contribute to its clogging with these trivial and minor cases. Is it a case of rocket science, lack of commonsense, or all of the above?
In my humble view, the only time one should appear before a magistrate for a minor traffic offence is when he/she is desirous of defending the matter, and frankly, if the fine is reasonable, people wouldn’t even bother with the trouble. Otherwise, if one concedes that he/she may have offended the law and is prepared to pay for the transgression, why waste the person’s time in court?
For those of us who cannot seem to think beyond a curfew, here’s a free, very simple and commonsensical suggestion. Guyana Police Force (GPF) and GRA are both agencies of the state. Well, the GPF should send all the ticket fines down to GRA, and let them assign the fines to the licences if people do not pay by a certain time. One will then have to clear all such fines before their revenue licence is renewed. Alternatively, if anyone gets fined and refuses to pay, then the court should be apprised of such behaviour and take action against the person.
In that way, the police don’t have to chase behind anyone for revenue, the magistracy has more time to deal with more substantive matters, hopefully fewer bribes would be facilitated and scores of police officers could then be assigned to fight crime.
Yours faithfully,
Sheldon Hazelwood
