EDITOR, The Tribune.

We write in response to an article in The Tribune dated April 2, 2015, page 8A & 9A.

Residents of Long Island were deeply troubled and saddened by the utter nonsense written by Mr Adrian Gibson, a non-resident of the beautiful Long Island.

It is quite apparent that this Young Man’s Point of View was miscued and thwarted by the unfortunate incident involving his rented vehicle.

In the article, Mr Gibson advised that he spoke on behalf of many residents. We, the 3000 plus residents of Long Island, take exception to him speaking on our behalf. His many only constitutes of 0.5 per cent of our population.

Mr Adrian Gibson, without a doubt, owes the Police Officers and residents on Long Island an apology for the following reasons:

1. He stated that “Long Island must be the home to some of the worst, most unprofessional police officers in The Bahamas” and “a number of police officers on Long Island could not give a hill of beans about policing”.

The officers on this island take their oath to protect and serve citizens very seriously, this is easily verifiable facts.

On a daily basis, they are stationed at the airports when flights arrive and depart insuring the safety of passengers and citizens; road checks on Long Island is the order of the day.

They are visible at school zones in the morning and afternoon. They are an integral part of the community and readily assist in the educational development of our children by giving lectures, providing counselling and conducting workshops to ensure that no youth fall between the cracks.

Police officers on Long Island are very proactive as they make regular checks at various business establishments to ensure the safety of business owners.

They are at every community event on the island and are actively involved in every community sponsored event. Only RESIDENTS on this island would know this.

1. Mr Gibson made reference to Commissioner Greenslade, and a need to develop a more effective rotational scheme for Family Island Officers.

If he took the time to telephone Mr Greenslade prior to writing this article, he would have found out that the majority of the officers on Long Island are rotated on a regular basis.

A few are indeed domiciled, the same applies to other government entities, but they are performing an excellent job in this district! But, here again, only RESIDENTS would know this.

1. Mr Gibson’s letter forced us to conduct some investigations into the crime statistics on Long Island, where he stated that the police are relaxing and pretending to be tourists who turn into the two police stations on the island for a few hours each day before returning home.

To date, the few criminal offences have been resolved with the assistance of the residents and dedicated police officers on this island!

However, we would be remiss if we did not correct Mr Gibson when he stated that there are two stations on the island, when there are indeed four Police Stations located on Long Island.

Again, only RESIDENTS would know this. Also police officers used their private vehicles for police duties and never look for any form of compensation. They are NOT living off the fat off the land, they are earning every cent of their salary.

1. Mr Gibson blatantly misinformed the public by printing half-truths pertaining to the police officers on Long Island.

His idiocy writing about police officers who refuse to respond to citizens by claiming they are off duty for the day; sleeping; with their families or don’t wish to be disturbed is absurd.

Residents on Long Island know exactly where each police officer resides and in fact visit their homes, at any hour of the night, even before going to the police station. In addition, police response time to all citizens in distress is commendable, especially after hours.

1. Contrary to what Mr Gibson said, we are not fed up with the disrespect and dismal performances of our officers.

We are proud and salute the fine officers in the Long Island District for their superior, unselfish, dedicated, committed services; despite negativity by individuals such as Mr Adrian Gibson who allowed one unfortunate incident to taint the characters of officers on this island.

He has placed a vehicle that was damaged by a criminal above the lives of police officers. The very officers who assisted in bringing closure to the incident that triggered his personal vendetta.

Editor, crime is no respector of island or peoples so every now again it will attempt to raise its ugly head on Long Island. But as RESIDENTS, we feel safe, we feel protected with the fine officers that Mr Greenslade has assigned to this island.

We are in capable hands. Hands that are not laidback every hand is on deck and accounted for; hands that are the best and brightest on The Royal Bahamas Police Force.

In closing, we want to encourage the officers on Long Island.

As Mr Gibson is only sharing his opinion, a young man’s point of view which cannot be substantiated. We want the entire Bahamas to know we salute their efforts; we are proud of their commitment to duty.

We appreciate their unselfish acts and we are thankful for their service to our beautiful Long Island. May God richly bless each of them.

RESIDENTS OF LONG ISLAND

Long Island,

April 8, 2015.