A question about police inactivity
Dear Sir,
In light of what is going on recently — and I will try my utmost to skirt the actual issues, so as to get a balanced and reasonable response — I have a question.
A couple of Mondays ago, the Bermuda Police Service watched as protesters gathered along East Broadway to voice their dissent. They watched even as traffic was blocked off. As someone who has been ticketed in the past for traffic misdemeanours, including turning up Lane Hill during rush hour, does this inaction leave a precedent for someone to argue they are being discriminated against in future traffic court?
After all, surely the law applies fairly to everyone?
Likewise, we have had our Chief Justice label the recent protests as “probably illegal” — does the law allow for “probably”? — and yet our police service have done nothing to ensure the MPs of both parties can gain access to the House. It is unarguable that blocking entrances to legislators is illegal and yet the BPS stand idly by. Leading on from this, I would like to know which other laws we can ignore on this island now. Am I able to walk down Front Street smoking weed? Can my partner go topless down to the beach? Can I put a bar in Number One Car Park on Friday night and sell alcohol? Am I able to drive intoxicated?
These are flippant examples, I know, but they are illegal acts, after all. Does police inactivity lead to arguments that those responsible for upholding the law are being selective about which ones to enforce?
Would these arguments be upheld in court and enable someone to walk free, or receive immunity, based on discriminatory prosecution? I can’t see the BPS standing by if 500 people were to have a “smoke-in” on Parliament grounds or if a similar number decide to drive home drunk tomorrow night.
Forgive my ignorance, but I am not a legal professional; nor have I ever studied the law.
ALEX, Paget