By Kenicia Francis
This Carnival weekend saw a few incidents that have gone viral on the internet.
One such viral incident taking social media by storm is of an altercation between one party-goer attending RISE and the police.
Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney says that police have launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to her being violently shoved to the ground during RISE.
The woman, who appears to be drunk in the video, is seen thrown to the ground after failing to cooperate with a plain clothes police officer.
“I have seen that video and obviously it is something of concern to us. As a result, we have launched an investigation to determine what happened prior to that event and what happened after. We have the view there was something happening before, and then the video, and then something else happened after. We have asked for an investigation and hopefully I will be getting the reports to get a clearer idea as to what really transpired. It’s not one of the things that we encourage when we see that type of action, but we don’t know the full story so we are waiting for the reports as the investigation goes on,” Rodney stated.
“It’s unfortunate that we’ve seen that aspect of the video alone, but I think it’s not fair to make a judgment as yet as to what happened. I would rather wait to get a full picture before I give my opinion as to the incident, because I think there was an entire incident and we are only seeing a snippet of what happened as part of the incident. So let’s be patient, and let’s see what the investigators bring, so we can make a better pronouncement as to what we think about the whole incident.”
Rodney says the incident was first brought to his attention by a senior officer. He then saw the video on a news portal on social media.
Residents have decried the treatment of the woman and are saying police officers should be able to handle such situations more responsibly.
Other incidents that have been the topic of much discussion are the several fights, and the stabbing that caused an early end to j’ouvert.
Two persons were taken to the hospital with stab wounds, following a fight on Redcliffe Street. They are said to be in stable condition and their injuries are not life-threatening.
The police then issued a press release calling upon the general public to conduct themselves soberly and responsibly for the remainder of the Carnival season.
Several people were also seen hurling bottles at each other on either side of Tindale Road until police intervened.
An appeal was made to the vendors and the other persons that run bars around the Carnival event to desist from sharing drinks in bottles and cans or other items that can be turned into projectiles. The police warned that failure to comply would result in one’s removal from the streets and the revocation of a vendor’s liquor license.
Members of the public were also warned in a press release about carrying sharp or blunt objects, such as knives, scissors, pieces of wood on their person.
The police also stated that anyone found with these items would be arrested.
Inspector Frankie Thomas told Observer that the police usually review all reported incidents at the end of Carnival and put them together a proper summary of events.
At the time of this writing, that summary had not been conducted.
