Dear Mr. Editor,
Many of your readers, local and international, would know about a popular comedy show from the 60’s – The Andy Griffith Show. For local viewers, it airs on Marpin2K4 Ltd. in the evenings.
The character, Barney Fife, is the deputy sherrif, who wears a tie, carries a gun, and gives a ticket to everybody for any and everything, and has no problem throwing his best friend in jail for jaywalking. The Sherrif, Andy Taylor, on the other hand, wears no tie, carries no gun, and applies a human touch to every situation except the more serious infringements of the law.
In the small community of Mayberry, it is obviously Andy, the Sherrif, who gets the more respect and co-operation from the public when it is needed.
A good lawyer is not the one who wants to fly to court for everything, but the one who tries to avert that outcome through reasoning and negotiation and mediation.
It seems that we have a lot of police officers in Dominica who believe what makes them good cops is enforcing the law to the letter at all times, no matter the situation, and no matter who is involved. I say no! It is the policemen and policewomen who behave like Sherrif Taylor. Have we noticed that there is no situation that the sherrif has failed to bring an amicable resolution to at all times. True, it’s TV, but they say art imitates life.
I was given a traffic ticket the other day, which I felt was wholly unjustified. But do you think the ASP in charge of traffic would listen to me? As far as she was concerned, her officer and her department were right, and that was that , end of story. Pay your ticket! At a point in the conversation, I had to practically demand my right to speak and give my side of the issue.
Now, any body on the face of the earth who knows me knows that I have never broken the law, and when it comes to traffic issues, I am virtually a Saint.
I don’t want any favors from anybody, but for Heaven’s sake, it’s not as if she doesn’t know me, it’s not as if I harmed anyone or caused any disruption in anyway. The officer might have thought about some way she might need someone like me in the future.
The Big Stick attitude and “I’m the law” mentality is not what makes you a good cop, Miss ASP, and it’s the kind of behavior and personality trait which prevents the public from helping the police when they need that help most. You look out for me, I’ll look out for you too.
I can never be accused of being an unreasonable man. I just think police officers, especially senior ones, ought to know when to make a little adjustment from time to time in the way they carry out their functions. It will make for better outcomes in the long run.
Yes, I paid my ticket to avoid wasting time in court and losing income. It hurt, but I have certain characteristics just like an elephant.
Thanks for your space.
Dr. Victor Emanuel, M.D.
In response to the Doctor who got a ticket if he did see that Police Officer on the side of the road in need of assistance it is his moral obligation to render assistance. If the Police Officer gave him a break and others saw that they to would expect leniency. If that Police Officer saw that Doctor being assaulted you should expect the Officer to go to his assistance. That is their job. As a former Federal Agent and current Police Officer I have stopped Doctors and other Law Enforcement Officers and gave them tickets because of increased speed and other violations, When you give leniency you do not know who is watching and if that person was testing you. No one is above the law not even myself. Deal with the issue and yes you are complaining
Well Dr, if you think you receiving the ticket was not justified then u should have gone to court to prove you case. The court is the body which withdraws tickets. It sickens me when some people believe they are above the law. Even magistrates get tickets…do u hear them complaining?
So I guess because he is a doctor he should get off Scott free..how typical..the police should be impartial mr doctor..You are such a professional that you are threatening the officer by saying that an elephant don’t forget..what does that mean?. Ya doc you are showing your true colors..
Most of the police force if not all are unemployed who needed a job and the police force is the easies way out, hence the reason for an ineffective police service.No passion for the job so can’t perform proffessionally.On my one and one personal contact with some police officers i find them to be very backward,can’t speak properly and their deportment poor.When a boy who just left school is taken to Morne Bruce for a few months and then sent to the streets on his own what do we expect of him?
If the doctor feels he was unjustifiably ticketed it’s his rights to address the asp and seek clarification and the asp should give him at least a listening ear as any one of us.Forget about his proffession or whatever position he may hold,this is out the question and if he deserves to be punished so be it.Let’s be objective without passing judgement.
The ASP can only give him a listening ear!You are right,but the ASP cannot revoke the ticket ,he should appear in the court to fight the ticket.The police officers will never give a ticket if an offence is not committed.The Dr. should stop whining and move on.
Remember my oath “I will go for the benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief or corruption and further from the seduction of any patient.”
Are you saying that from now on your treatment to police officers may be compromised as a result of this ticket?
This may become a matter for the Medical Association or Ministry of Health.
By the way, Mayberry has photo radar now.
well ANONYMOUS am not suprise of your stand on this issue cuz CHARLES SAVRINE is D minister incharge of police n he would have said D same thing bout Brisbane.
But Doc do u know how many law abiding citizen this ASP have to deal with on a daily bassis? Hmmmm put your self in her shoe and tell me dont you think that this ASP would get tired of the constant complaint esprecially when the law make provision for person to charllenge a ticket. Doc for your info everybody is always innocent.
Dr. Emmanuel I must comment to this for several reasons
For one, I’ll be the first to admitt that it appears that some of our police officers are so bent on giving a ticket that sometimes i want to believe they look for and may even make up a reason to issue one, (i’ll admit that i may be exagerating a little). But it has become ridiculous!
I most definitely agree that discretion and wisdow has to be applied as the situation warrants, and must also admit that there’s a fine line between that and becoming corrupt.
I sometimes wonder if it is a characteristic introduced during thier training, but the cops usually are not willing to give ear to what anyone have to say, especially if it’s in contrast to what they’re saying, so on all of these points I 100% agree with you. However, Dr. Emmanuel you’ve left me very disappoint as you attempted to justify why you shouldn’t have recieved a ticket.. I didn’t gather from what you wrote that you had not broken the law but infact had and expected partiality because of you are and that you’d never done it before. even still this isn’t my greatest grievance with you but rather your comment of the officer needing your services one day.
Doctor, what will you do when and if that day were to come, not render services, give less than your best, remind the officer of the time she issued you a ticket? Tell me Doctor, what will you do? I take most offense to this statement cause i am in the health profession, a nurse to be exact and I must tell you this statement depreciated your earned respect, if not in the view of any other but in mine. It spoke to lack of professionalism and good moral. I’m truely disappointed!
Sir,part of your 2nd paragraph, where u said that u agree with the Dr. that the officers don’t listen to u is not true.He listen, because when he approach u, he wants to hear that first reply from u,then he take note of it.Depending on the reply some officers will let it go and others won’t.On training it’s always at the discretion of the officer.
Thanks Doctor for telling us how you think. I am a member of the PWA Executiveand I am going to lead a campaign among police officers and their families on your stance to towards the Police.
POLICE OFFICERS BEWARE OF THE DOCTOR WITH THE UNIQUE VOICE
Thank you Doctor
One of this days I was saying that it would seem that people are not thinking in short persons don’t use discretion any more. When they are faced with a challenge, they cannot make decisions. For example , I know of a woman who was born overseas ( Her mum was Dominican by birth) but lived all her life here . Came here as a child about 4 years old. When her mum died, she took care of her siblings and has never even gone back to her place of birth. She had a passeport and when she went to apply for the new passeport , she was told that she was not born here and she could not get the passport. Poor woman cannot even travel back to her place of birth which she left at four (4) years. mummy is dead . She has no passeport and mind you she is not 20 years . She is about 48 years . Spent all her 44 years in Dominica.
Could not discretion be used there? someone help me and let me know what can be done to help this poor woman. And what according to the Doctor – they not even listenning to your side so they can make some informed decision. It is you cannot get this and they have not heard anything that you have said or are trying to say.
Someone give some help to this woman!
Its easy she just has to find a lawyer to verify everthing… now wudnt she have a pasposrt of her place of birth… her mom death certficate .. etc… these are the things she needs to prove… and get along
I find that passport stroy to be very strange due to the fact that on the form is an area to say how you are a Dominican. Alot of people who have Dominican parents get their passports easily. Please get you all facts staight. Maybe the lady did not explain her situation.
She should have applied for naturalization.She could have gone to higher authority.
claud weeks is a very good example but i suspect soon he will be under some presure by them politition if not already. he was public relation officer they have took that away from him so he can’t talk to matt on the hot seat.
DNO, i thought i was the first to comment on that topic, where is my comment?
Oh please people. Doctor, farmer, teacher, salesman, garbage man, we all feel at one point in time or another that some leniency COULD have been shown to us.
No one is saying it must… but, could. We all feel that way sometimes at work, home or school.
He’s only sharing an experience and he’s sentiments. He’s human.
So Relax.
IS so that ASP is she is so rude, she looking for promotion
Red cap and cast rum and an over inflated ego like those who run our Dominica police force only here can they do policing no body else will want them. woyyyyy.
a good cop in dominica is who them politicians like, the most effective cop in dominica is the person who gets the job done and always uphold the law..
a good cop in dominica is the one who gets promoted by politicians request. the most effective cop is the one who is always victimized by denial of promotion.
yet the best cop never let these things affect his performance.
I concur.
“I can never be accused of being an unreasonable man. I just think police officers, especially senior ones, ought to know when to make a little adjustment from time to time in the way they carry out their functions. It will make for better outcomes in the long run.”
Dr. Emanuel, i empathize with you. I don’t want to be ticketed either. However, i strongly disagree with that “adjustment” that you requested. It is such arrangements that often breed corruption. In fact, if your ticket were canceled by the ASP just because you think you are a nice guy and should have been pardoned, I would be among the first to cry foul on behalf of the many others who have never had such fortune.
The law is the law. There may be room for negotiating the sanction if we break the law or, an officer may forgive and caution us BEFORE ticketing us if we break the law (“discretionary powers”). However, once judgement is passed (i.e ticket is issued), an “adjustment” is unacceptable.
BTW, that Andy Griffith show refers to a certain era. Doesn’t it?
Finally, why would you use the cover of “letter to the editor” to hit at the ASP?
No one is about the law.Put it in your pipe and smoke it.The law is straight forward.You commit a traffic offense, u get cut by the officer,suck it up ,plead your cast to the magistrate,he will decide if you are guilty,reprimanded or not guilty.
Seriously?!! Honestly?! Come on doc … you felt the need to write to the editor about your parking ticket and, by inference, that the ASP in charge of traffic, is a “bad cop”. I agree: good cops are the ones who – among other things – are able to exercise good judgement. So to are good doctors and citizens! In short, we all could be spared your whinning about not getting out of a ticket because of who you are!
It’s amazing how some of us are either stupid and can’t get a simple point or twist things around for own purposes.
Since when people cannot come on DNO and make a point using an example, like people running off their mouth on The Heng and Hot Seat?
My take on what the doctor wrote was NOT that he should get out of a ticket because of who he is, but because he felt strongly that he did not deserve it, and that the ASP knows him as a person who would not deliberately break the traffic law, and in any event, did no harm to anyone or cause a traffic disruption, (unlike many we see do it in front of them everyday). I don’t see any whining there.
He says he wants no favors from anyone. I know him, and I know that to be a fact.
But let me tell all of you something. There’s no way any one of us knows when the doctor or any other doctor might be driving home to find one of us vehicle wrapped around a lamp post or our child’s brains popping out of his skull in the school yard, or if he or she might be the only one in Harlsbro when we’re having a heart attack walking down Hillsborough Street.
Some of us don’t think about these possibilities, but I do.
who the hell are you to talk so much hate. Maybe beacause he is your family, there are many other qualified docotors who are much nicer. In harlsborogh there are alot of specialist to help if this happens idot. donot wish these things on anyone fool.
The truth that people speak makes you say these things, i feel sorry for you it only shows how bad and black your heart is, that right you are as black as your heart. diable
AN HONEST MAN
its the officer’s discretion..its him at the time
There’s Traffic Laws in Dominica which all Citizens and foreigners should abide by. NO exceptions, you break a traffic law, you are liable to pay a fine in accordance to the law. Credentials should mean nothing when it comes to Law and order, Being a known and respected Medical practitioner does not mean that the Police officer who knows you should be obliged to show you any leniency. It’s nothing personal so this article was not needed.
The man was not asking for leniency. He was asking for a listening ear but he was dismissed
did you read the article. All the man wanted was for the lady to listen to his side of the story. He did not ask for leniency
I KNOW YOU AND THAT YOU COME ACCROSS LIKE, I KNOW EVERYTHING AND WHO ARE YOU?
PLEASE ANOTHER LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What???????????????????????????????
i agree. What????????????
mr emmanuel with all respect due to you,upon reading your attitude you have failed to tell the readers why you think you were not worthy of the traffic ticket.i think its of paramount importance to let us know why you were ticketed,where, and why in your opinion you think it was unjustly given.thanks
Why all that necessary? You want the man to write an epistle when he have important work to do?
He might have been healing one of your friends or relatives around the time he was writing.
And why don’t you all read properly and understand? Or can you understand? is the question.
All that is necessary so the readers can know whether or not he has a legitimate case. He may well be egoistic and think that he should not pay simply because of who he is, or it could be a case of a cop overreacting. We can’t make a judgement, not on him, not on the cop,nor on the supervisor based on the available information.
It is necessary. He was not busy because he should not be taking patients money and time, to write while caring for a patient, it makes him incompetent.
do you understand what is a doctor’ss work. A very demanding and time consuming job, sometimes docotrs have to revise the Phsyician desk reference when prescribing certain prescritpions. He should not be commenting on DNO.
agreed!! i was thinking the same thing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree wholeheartedly that the doctor needs to explain why he thinks he shoud NOT have been ticketed. Though It is his perogative not to do so, once he chose to use this forum to argue his case, it becomes public discussion. Readers of DNO are at a loss to form an opinion without having all the facts.
awa nah pal,,,, the good dr…. allu doin dat,,,, hhhmmmm hope allu give skerro his ticket to eh,, and those involved in the passport scam,,,, lol