I am appealing to the commissioner of police, once again, to stop the practice of strip-searching young Bahamian men in public. This is a counter-productive procedure that was used in apartheid South Africa a d raicially devided United States against black folk where they were racially profiled, then stopped and searched and thrown in jail for unsubstantiated violations. In South Africa Blacks were required to carry a national identification card. I the state made it almost impossible for a Black person to obtain one of these cards. But if an individual was stopped by police and did not have an ID card he was beaten, thrown in jail and sometimes he was never seen again. Never ever! In the US, blacks were racially profiled and stopped and searched by the police. Where it was convenient drugs or weapons were planted on these persons and they were thrown in jail. But the more significant impact was that every where you turn in the US Black folk were being stopped by the police, arrested by the police and thrown in jail by the police. Mr Comisdioner you claim that you are a decent man, and most people agree with you, but how can you justify using a (racially intended) policing tool that targets 95% of persons who are innocent and have committed no crime. What impact you think your public body searches have on school children coming from HO Nadh or DW Davis when they come home from school everyday to see young men spread eagle across vehicles and strip searched in the most demeaning and violating manner?

If public strip searching was effective then why is violent crime, murder especially increasing? If you Mr. Commissioner, who claim to be a decent man, and who many feel the same way about you, see nothing wrong with publicly strip searching young men, then why you and Krith Brll and BJ Nottage and Brave David and Perry Christie volunteer to be strip searched in Rawson Square at the next sitting of the House? Of course you may say that you are not a suspect in any crime. And that is exactly my point. NINETY FIVE PECENT of all persons stopped by your officers and stripped searched and publicly violated have committed no crime! And if you still don't see no problem with your actions, send police downtown and instruct them to publicly strip-search the tourist the way they are doing young Bahamian men and see how long it is before Downtown Nassau becomes a ghost town or before a travel advisory is issued against the Bahamas for civil rights violations or before cruise agencies pull their ships away from the Bahamad

There have been instances where your police had stopped trucks loaded with construction workers and threatened to " lock up everyone " if they find drugs on the truck". Isn't that the same as saying they will lock up they own "ma" if she was on a jitney and they find someone with drugs on that bus. See how dumb and idiotic it becomes especially when overzealous cops are involved. Our major problem in this country is should be murder and violent crime while drugs and drug possession should not be ignored the following backdrop cannot be ignored: Some 23 states in the US has legalized marijuana for medical use. Meaning you can go to a doctor complaining of headaches, blurred vision or pain and get a med card that allows you to buy marijuana from a vending machine at your convenience, no further questions asked. More than FOURTY sTATEs in the Union have decriminalized marijuana in small amounts considered for personal use. FIVE states in the US have legalized marijuana, allowing residents to cultivate it process it possess it , sell it and consume it. The last state to do it allowed it to be tax free for three months. Most persons in the Bahamas , Nassau who are stopped and strip searched by overzealous police do not sell or even smoke weed, why is the commissioner still using sere ration and apartheid weapons against his own people? Why?

good decision<img src="http://s02.flagcounter.com/mini/rzN/bg_…" border="0" width="1" >

The look on those children's faces...