Congratulations on an incident free weekend but you guys need to stop corralling young black men from the inner city like animals for nothing other reason than being young black and from the inner city. Not every young black inner city young man is a criminal, some of these guys are hard working, trying to support families and staying out of trouble, don't give them the message that it doesn't matter if they operate within the law, PLEASE. Don't let these good ( literally) young boys look at police as the enemy.

I agree 100% I know many black young men who feel disenfranchised because police target them for no other reason than them being young, black males.

Well I am sorry to say I rather the police be safe than sorry, in this day and age with crime being what it is the goose will have to to suffer with the gander. If that means searching any and all who may look suspicious whether they are or not I am backing the police on it.

You can say that because you are not the mother or father of an 25yr old who goes to work everyday, comes home at night, does not get into trouble, does his best to provide for his little daughter and suddenly one day, talking to someone in his neighbourhood is hauled away with a group of young men and held in jail for 72 hours, for no other reason than stopping to talk to someone. He was not buying drugs, he was not smoking weed, he just stopped to talk to someone at the wrong time. Imagine if you were this young mans parent, a parent who has against all odds successfully taught him even while growing up in a bad neighbourhood, the value of hard work. Imagine. What would you be doing 11PM. First trying to find out where he is, cause he doesn't stay out this late, fearing the worst! And then finding out your good son is in jail??! I'm sorry but this is very upsetting, these are good young men, what will his opinion of the police be now? He is either afraid of them or he will hate them for their abuse of power. Who does that serve? What is the purpose of this stupid urban renewal police walkabout programme if this us what they are doing?

This is not a "scenario"...this actually happened this past weekend

Sorry to hear it. This vexing problem really needs to be addressed before we lose the future leaders of the Bahamas!

And if I were the mother/father I would have taught my child to watch the company you keep. What were you doing hanging with potential criminal elements if you are "my good son".

Are we all not "potential criminal elements"? You're ignorant.

Maybe you are a potential criminal element but I am not, call it what you want. I live to avoid situations where anyone could mistake me for being criminal element. i won't be shot or stabbed in a case of wrong place with the wrong crowd at the wrong time.

You sound just like all these Bahamian mother's when their "good son" gets murdered in a place where he was not suppose to be. Sorry that your son was murdered no one deserves to die but if he was so good why was he leaned up on a wall in Kemp Road- knowing full well in these times the dangers of being in areas like that.

Just saying as a police officer if I saw a suspicious looking person I don't care who you are I will stop and check you out, again better safe than sorry. If you aren't doing anything illegal then you should have no issue with being stopped and checked. But the problem is people want to have lip and make noise which escalates the situation.

I've been stopped in routine traffic blockades, my vehicle is licensed and insured. So all I do is hand the policeman by driver's license and the requested information, he checks it and moves on. No need for fussing which then makes him upset and then he pulls me out the car and next thing there is a whole big swarm of people.

Point is I feel the police are well within rights to search people if they appear suspicious looking in nature.

I hope you have a voice when the police decide to hold you for 72 hours

Well it works for me and mine, no one in my family has ever been arrested or detained unlawfully. So I will continue to live as I have been taught because it worked for my mom, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my grandmom, my granddad etc...

I will continue to portray myself in the way of an upstanding law-abiding citizen who has nothing to fear from the law. I won't act in a suspicious manner and neither will I be found in places where suspicious people or activity can be found. If I for whatever reason find myself in a situation with the law for whatever the reason I will remain calm, follow instruction, and not create an unnecessary scene.

More people need to try this method and not just with the law- with each other. There might be less violence on the streets between people.

Aaah, *as long as it doesn't affect ME*, Darren Cash raise any issues for you? He always dresses nicely.

Not the same...he was targeted for a specific reason in his home, not because he was hanging out in a bad area dressed like a possible criminal. Furthermore if you think Mr. Cash just stood there with his hands in the air like a deer in headlights allowing the police to search his home then you are crazy. If you are going to attempt to draw analogies at least have the sense to make sure they match up.

Do you need a diagram to show the difference between apples and grapes?

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@BahamianAway-Using extreme tactics such as searching every young black male is ineffective while at the same time oppressive. It only shows that the police lack real crime fighting strategies. In the end, these same young men, who are innocent, will be reluctant to assist the police when the public is called upon to provide relevant information pertaining to criminal matters. It amazes me the way people think. I know of some Bahamians who get agitated when they are pulled over by police in foreign-These Bahamians claim that they are only being harassed because of their skin colour. But I guess it is different when it is done in the Bahamas by our very own.

I agree to some extent, but as I said the Bahamas is in the grip of a massive crime problem. Can we afford to just assume that everyone is a law abiding citizen? As I said if you look the part of a person who could potentially be involved in criminal acts, and you are associating (however briefly) with known criminals then you will be treated as criminal until proven otherwise.

Sometimes if it looks like a duck it might be a chicken, but I bet 9 out of 10 times it's a duck, and I rather 1 chicken get caught up and released than lose 9 ducks because they assume they are all chickens.

Let it be a lesson to the hard working young black Bahamian men out there, watch the company you keep. Strive to show yourself above reproach, they want to be one thing but walking around with their pants hanging to their knees and keeping bad company just because they grew up in the same neighbourhood. At some point you have to realize what is important, a life where you are a respected upstanding ciitzen or that round-the-way friend.

Well said BahamianAway. Unfortunately these are the times we are living in. If a young man wants to look like a bum then they should expect to be treated like one. Civilized beings do not intentionally walk around holding up their baggy pants; they put on a belt and fasten it around their waist.
When I was growing up if you disrespected the police you would be taken for a ride in the pine barrens and smacked around a little. And when the police took you home your parents would thank the policeman and then you would get another cut hip. Only a fool would have disrespected a police officer twice.
I'm not 100% sure that we want the police to do that again (maybe 95% sure) but someone has to teach these kids respect. The man they think is their father isn't doing it, the teacher's aren't allowed to discipline and the single mom seems to be focused on other things.
As for the fact that some innocent people are also caught up in the harassment this is indeed unfortunate. But innocent people are raped, murdered, abused and robbed every day. I would rather be that innocent person being pulled aside and searched and harassed than to be shot, stabbed, robbed or raped. Wouldn't everyone??

Agreed, as I previously stated if you have nothing to fear from the law then there should be no issue if you are pulled aside. Answer the questions respectfully and give them no reason to manhandle you. I have seen situations escalate because people want to save face in front of their friends. Let the police do their job, and unless they just randomly start beating you then if you are in public on public grounds they are well within their rights to search and question you if you appear suspicious.

You know how to solve that....DO NOT APPEAR SUSPICIOUS!!! Just a thought..

Where did you get that he "looked like a bum"? Should he have had on a suit or khaki pants to go to a construction job or to work as a mechanic? If that is the case all tradesmen need to fear for their freedom every single minute they walk on the street. Stupidity. He stopped to talk to someone and was hawled away with everyone else in the vicinity. When is it a crime in this country to stop to talk to someone you know? "You would rather" as long as the "innocent" person is not your child, if they are black and poor "it's okay". Hypocrisy. I tell you this *do unto others* is DEEP. That same young man who's rights you so callously allow to be abused is YOU and yours.

Not so...there is a difference between being dressed for a trade job. People that work trade jobs don't walk around with pristine dickies and workboots. They don't have their pants hanging to their knees and while they may appear "dirty" they have a look of hard worker about them.

Please don't insult your intelligence by trying to sell me on the fact that you can't tell the difference between a hard working young man in work clothes versus one just wearing them for fashion.

And if it were my child I would warn them of the dangers of keeping company with suspect people. I believe that is part of the problem with the Bahamas now. Parents don't want to own up and take responsibility for parenting these young men and women. Teach your children to respect authority and stop automatically siding with them against authority. To much cloak and dagger from these parents is why these young people feel they can do what they want in the streets and then home they present a different front.

....this goes beyond profiling.

I assure you BahamaAway, he was not walking around with his waistband to his knees. And no I cannot tell the difference between someone coming home from work in jeans and someone standing on the corner all day in jeans that's why our constitution provides us with certain RIGHTS, policemen are not allowed to act like you who is excellent at judging a man's heart by looking at his clothes.

*Only a fool would have disrespected a police officer twice.*

I am really not sure you understand what I said, the police pulled up, didn't ask anyone questions, didn't give anyone a chance to "disrespect" them. They just rounded up whoever was there and took them to jail. That's it. Suppose the police pulled you over, took you to the squad car drove you to jail and allowed you to sit their until they were ready to interview you. Would that be ok?

Yep. Democracy out the door! If that's the perception of the masses then one might as well be living in China or Cuba. The fact of the matter is that in a free society a person should be able to dress the way he pleases, wear his hair the way he likes or listen the type of music he is hipped to without fear of discrimination. Isn't that embedded in our constitution? My god!Why are we claiming to be an independent democratic country if we handle all of our affairs with bottled up emotions and knee jerk reactions?

Are you listening to yourself, we don't live in some la-la land where people can walk around looking like vagabonds and roughnecks and think it's okay. That's the problem now...I refuse to desensitize myself under the pretense that it's discriminatory.

The moment you turn your head and think that the man walking towards you with his face hidden behind a mask is just covering up from the cold is the very moment when you get struck across the head, robbed, and possibly murdered.

If you call it discrimination then go ahead, but I will continue to be wary of people dressed a certain way, because as sickened said the majority of people who lead respectable, law abiding lives don't walk around looking like they are up to no good.

/not saying that there aren't well dressed respectable people out there committing crimes. A person should be aware of all surroundings, but if you are an upstanding person why dress the part of a person who isn't

This is extremely offensive, one that you assume "he must have been dressed a certain way" and two that it is ok to profile based on the way they are dressed. I hope your "away" is not the US heartland where you are forever "dressed" in black skin

Yes, my away is the US and I am well aware of profiling that comes with being black. And because of that I am even more aware of how I portray myself. I try not to feed into the ghetto or slum stereotype that many have once they realize I am black and from a Caribbean nation.

Stereotypes are such for a reason, because the majority made it that way. So to continue to feed it and perpetrate it then you get what you ask for.
We know that Kemp Road is a bad area so if you know this why hang out there unnecessarily. I never understood people who know the way things are but purposely do it and look around baffled when shiiite happens.

The Bahamas is full of crime, situations are out of control and there seems to be no end. That being said do you walk around looking suspicious, leave your car door unlocked, walk down Cowpen Road at 2am and then be shocked if something happens.
People need to make wiser decisions...stop courting trouble then acting shocked when you find it.

Another things Bahamians are so hypocritical it makes my blood boil, the same people who don't want to be profiled because they are young, black and wearing dickies are the same people who profile Haitians. The same Bahamians who think that all Haitians are in the Bahamas illegally. But wait all people who dress a certain way and look suspicious can't be criminals....oh what a tangled web of hypocrisy we weave.

Arguably the biggest crimes conducted by anyone in this nation were perfromed by a man whose name now adorns one of the most beautiful structures in this country. As far as I can recall, he was a fabulous dresser. Renew your shallow mind. No wonder we are saddled with so many slick character-less "leaders", everybody judging them by the cut of their suit and no doubt a pair of spectacles help their chances

Here is an excerpt from our so called constitution, as a reminder to those who wish to judge people based on appearance or association;

CHAPTER III
PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE INDIVIDUAL

Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual.

15.- Whereas every person in The Bahamas is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, has the right, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest, to each and all of the following, namely-

(a) life, liberty, security of the person and the protection of the law;

(b) freedom of conscience, of expression and of assembly and association; and

(c) protection for the privacy of his home and other property and from deprivation of property without compensation, the subsequent provisions of this Chapter shall have effect for the purpose of affording protection to the aforesaid rights and freedoms subject to such limitations of that protection as are contained in those provisions, being limitations designed to ensure that the enjoyment of the said rights and freedoms by any individual does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest

Sooooooooo, what part are you questioning????? Try being disabled or bi-sexual and then worry about Article 15 ....... or worse a WOMAN

Well those rights and privileges come with a responsibility. I am a law-abiding citizen who has had encounters with law enforcement and left feeling just fine. I responded to whatever they wanted in a sensible manner and followed the rules. I dress according to the way I want to be treated...

it's really simple actually. You look and act like a vagrant criminal you shall be treated as such. No two butts about it...

Lucky for you Perry Christie thinks the same way. You can always tell character by how people treat those "thought" to be the least among them

And you keep skirting the issue, you were at least afforded the courtesy of having "rights", this young man wasn't, he was assumed guilty, no questions asked and taken away. When that happens to you next week let me know if you hold the same opinion.

Well if does happen to me I will follow whatever procedures and protocols they deem necessary and then afterwards lodge a formal complaint if I felt my rights were violated. But as I keep saying...I don't place myself in situations for such things to happen. I am one person who when large crowds are gathering and it doesn't look constructive I head the opposite way. So I won't be round up and corralled like young goats when others are.

Agree...but unfortunately not everyone acts in a "sensible manner"....You look and act the part of a law abiding citizen, treat police/authority with respect and follow rules....and go your own merry way....no harm, no foul....kudo's to you. Wish more would look at this.