Most of you have probably already seen the video of a band of Special Patrol Unit officers pepper spraying and subduing a few men at the Agriculture and Trade Show on Sunday. The crowd went wild when the officers swooped in to collect the men. And of course other Agric goers got caught in the chaos as well. In the video, it looks pretty bad but today Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says it could have been worse if the officers did not intervene to break up a fight. Williams says he supports his officers in the way they handled the situation.
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"From what we were told the person believe that the other guy behind him was trying to steal his wallet and he turn around and punch the individual, when in fact it was not that individual who may have been trying to do him something and that was what caused the scuffle. Police had to intervene. I watch the video and I know that there is some people who are criticising the police about the actions the police took in dealing with that situation and there are some who have praises for the police and I honestly believe having look at the video that the police acted reasonably as without the actions of the police the matter, considering the amount of people who were at the show grounds, the matter could have escalated to a state where they could have been many casualties. When the police say STOP, you must stop. We have a culture where whenever the police is trying to do their work, there are those who want to jump in and want to be telling the police stop and want to be haul and pulling the police or when the police are detaining someone, they want to be pulling away the person from the police. That is obstructing the police. The police have a duty and in the discharge of that duty we want to ask the general public to please respect the work that the police is doing. We are there to ensure your safety as well and so I stand behind the actions of the police officers in that incident and yes I know pepper spray was used, not tear gas, with a view to calm down some people who were acting very boisterous."
Several persons were detained in that Agric round up but no one was charged. There was also a stabbing incident at the Agriculture and Trade showgrounds but police did not comment on it because they say it was a minor incident.
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