Police call on public to report drunk drivers
(CNS): Almost one quarter of the nineteen arrests made by police this weekend were for driving while drunk. Despite widespread warnings to motorists not to drink and drive, police said that not everyone is listening. Acting Superintendent of District Operations, Angelique Howell said that the RCIPS is cracking down on those getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol but she also urged the public to call the police and report drunk drivers.
“The public can be reassured that officers of the RCIPS will continue to be vigilant and proactive towards identifying and prosecuting drunk drivers, and we encourage members of the public to assist the police in reporting motorists who they suspect are driving under the influence to 911,” she said.
Not only do drunk drivers risk losing their licence because of the traffic law infraction but they are putting themselves and other road users at risk of injury or worse, police said.
Seven people wanted on outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court were also arrested. This comes after revelations on CNS Thursday almost 600 people are wanted on outstanding warrants going back to 2000.
As well as the five arrests for DUI, one person was arrested for assault (ABH) and another for theft, who has also been charged. The other arrests were in relation to various offences such as assaulting police, abstracting electricity, disorderly conduct at a licensed premises, driving without license and insurance, causing fear or provocation of violence and breach of bail.
“We are focused on all crimes and determine to bring those who believe they can continue to break the laws to justice,” Howell added.
Dear Ms Howell,
Please note that we will help you with the drunk driving if we hars so we can do speaker-phone or if we have hands-free cause we can’t call with phone in our hands right?
But would you also please help the residents and correct the disconnect.
There are several but I’ll highlight a few so you can start correcting those.
1. Delegate the officers. Visibility is the key cause way too often we drive by our local district stations and see every car that is assigned to our district parked outside and every on-duty officer inside
2. Teach your officers basic courtesy such as when they enter a room, an office, a garage, a car wash, a gas station, an elevator or a restaurant to SPEAK and introduce themselves. It is doggone rude to be in a place with a Police Officer in uniform, standing off away from the public and he or she doesn’t extend common Caymanian courtesy. We DO NOT appreciate being treated like chopped liver when not even a “Good Day” is offered.
3. Teach them to be helpful especially to women, senior citizens, special-needs and children. I had reason to draw the attention of an officer who was acting as security at a Gov’t agency a couple weeks back when a helper was srruggling to aid her employer thru a door in a wheelchair. He just sat there; not one bit of concern that the helper was struggling to hold the door and manuever the wheelchair-bound woman. I jammed my foot against the door so she didn’t break her arm or throw the lady out of the wheelchair
4. Try hiring people who want a career NOT a job that provides free medical, optical, dental and health insurance.
5. Return Traffic Dept and Community Policing
6. Teach them the importance of having a relationship with the public; to earn their trust and have a set of eyes and a pair of ears in the community.
7. Before they move out after roll-call stress the importance of trust and how they can pass on info without releasing the informant identity.
That’s all for now. I’ll plug in my charger this weekend and keep an eye out but you must have officers on the road who can attend speedily.
Wish I could I like Anonymous 5:48 posts more than once…
Wish I could like this more than once.
8. Teach them humility. They are there to serve us not us serve them. The badge goes to their head. One was very upset when she was told that she should be patrolling by foot not sitting all cozy in her jeep driving through a cordoned area where she wasn’t supposed to drive. She’s also been seen parking in a no parking zone at a supermarket numerous times. Her exact words were: “I’m supposed to park where the ordinary people park?”
More sound bites by the RCIPS. With such a high number of Police per capita it is astounding that there is so little actual Police presence, especially on our roads, and what little there is sets such poor driving examples themselves, it’s no wonder that so many ignore the traffic laws.
As a tip to the police, you don’t even need to put police out on the road to slow people down and scare them…just park a few empty police cars by the hot spots and people will be more cautious. Of course, you will need to put a police there every now and then to reinforce that it is not always an empty car.
First of all the police need to have a higher presence on the roads, if they were more visible a lot of traffic violations (speeding, DUI, etc) would decrease. We the public see people breaking traffic laws so why can’t the police see it and do something about it?
There should always be police presence on Linford pierson Highway, Esterly Tibbetts highway & Dart highway this would cut down on speeding, accidents, crazy overtaking etc. If the police really want to crack down on traffic offences it’s not rocket science it just means they will need to be vigilant, be present and actually follow through with issuing tickets. NOT JUST DURING CHRITMAS TIME this is a full time job!
Park a few police cars outside some of the well known bars on a Friday evening/night and breathalize those who get behind the wheel!
What about those drunk driver police officers?
We the public could report drunken drivers if only we could read the licence plates. Come on RCIPS get those damned tinted covers off all licence plates as a matter of urgency, after all it is against the Traffic Law. SMT
Perhaps make it in Cayman a “criminal offence” instead of a “traffic offence” (as it currently is) and more than likely you will start seeing people being a bit more sceptical to drink and drive. When applying for a job a criminal record is always needed!
I’m pretty sure it is a criminal offence not a traffice offence as it is handled in grand court I believe. Could be wrong, btthey definately are recorded on your criminal record. I believe most other countries deal with it as a traffic offence and in comparison the USA the penalties are alot stricter, I’m not sure how it is in the EU.
DUI in the Cayman Islands is a traffic offense, not Criminal. It does not show up on a police record at all.
Yep, one rule for Driftwood, one rule for Caymanians, especially important ones….and you wonder why this place is getting worse…and it starts at the top….how do you expect youth and cops to behave when they take their lead from the top….Driftwood thrown out for the smallest infringement..its called abuse of human rights amongst other things…
Point of clarification please. Acting Superintendent Angelique is quoted as saying, “we encourage members of the public to assist the police in reporting motorists who they suspect are driving under the influence to 911.”
Does that request now include police officers, civil servants and elected representatives plus all their friends and families? The reason I ask is that I can think of a number of people in those categories whose alcoholic excesses behind the wheel have been well reported to RCIPS for years and just ignored.
Hey, you want to get serious about this issue. Then hang out around a few North and South Church street establishments. You will catch some people! Guaranteed 20 minimum a week. How about near the Rugby pitch on a Saturday or Sunday evening. Guaranteed a minimum of 5 each day for three weeks.
Come on RCIPS every one but you all know where the DUI’s are. Or are you afraid that certain Officers will get caught up in the net.
Until you deal with those situations then don’t go asking anyone else.
Besides there is video evidence to prove the point. Just ask around, you’ll hear about the senior officer who, while DUI hit a couple of things at a certain bar parking lot then got driving home by the blue suited guys who came when 911 was called. You could always go look at his vehicle bumper for evidence if you wanted. The white marks are still there.
The truth lives.
The problem is that Cayman’s bars and restaurants and evening events depend on people being able to get home. We don’t have any public transport, taxis are too expensive and the taxi drivers are so haphazard they aren’t much better than drunks anyway.
What she is saying is not covering it….first of all lets find out who plied them with the liquor? Are we going to charge the Bars, Restaurants, Hosts of parties to name a few? I know for a fact that one accident a few years back, a young woman was at a club drinking, her friends knew she was intoxicated, yet they allowed her to leave as the club did, she got into her car, and of course got into an accident. Unfortunately the other person was killed, and all she did was spend 15 months in jail. This is just one of the very few. Sorry Angelique the public isn’t the only one who should report this, it is the people who give them the alcohol.
Just provide a better, reliable, affordable public bus service and you will see a difference.
I am sure the public would gladly help if they would see the police attempting to do their job in the first instance. Why don’t they have regular road blocks in the Rumpoint area when people are clearing out from Rumpoint going 80mph through North Side and Old Man Bay??? Those things are a no-brainer but it seems that RCIP can’t get their head wrapped around these things and get the situation under control. So what is the Public supposed to do about it?
The RCIP can not be everywhere and that is why the pubic needs to be the eyes and ears for the community and if they see something,say something.
Oh, okay officer so and so. Quit being so lazy and actually do work to prevent crimes/accidents!
The RCIPS are full of you know what. In Britain back in the late 60s/early 70s when the drunk driving thing became a major issue, the cops sat outside pubs and waited for drivers to leave the parking lot at speed and/or with no lights on. Enough to grab them and breathalise them. Today in the UK people are terrified to drink and drive. Why not here? A few years ago when Durty Reids of blessed memory was going strong, if the cops breathalised everyone who left there, 95% would fail the test. But………….they would include politicians and ‘prominent Caymanian business men”. That is why, Madam Governor, we still have a big problem here in a supposedly British “colony”. YOU need to order something to be done because leaving it up to the RCIPS on their own is XXXXX a dangerous waste of time.
Not only Durty Reids – I can list a number of current establishments where very few of the customers or the staff would survive an on-site DUI blitz.
Just one point – the kind of road blocks RCIPS use are illegal in the UK and when one force (I think it was West Sussex) tried them in the 1990s they got slammed for it. The reason most people in the UK don’t drink and drive is the knock on impact. After a 12 or 15 month driving ban it becomes difficult and very expensive to get insurance. You will also be banned from driving most rentals (both in the UK and abroad) and many company vehicles for up to seven years. But the real deterrent is that your details get ‘tagged’ as a potential drunk driver and with ANPR now widespread that’s enough to allow the police to stop you on suspicion of DUI at any time of day or night. A friend of mine back in the UK got caught DUI three years ago and even though he’s now teetotal the police still pull him over regularly.
So the trick is to make the penalties so broad and draconian that you’re punished multiple times for the crime. Got it.
But even that doesn’t work. Drink driving deaths and convictions for DUI in the UK are actually rising.
Have tou not seen how the police deal with speeding at the Cost U Less roundabout. They clearly do not know how to safely negotiate a roundabout and stopping people on them is nothing short of criminal. Thats the police for you.
I have seen more police presence on the road recently which is good to see, hopefully they keep it up. That being said, I still see the alot of police on the road not following traffic laws by simply not using indicators etc. They really should be setting an example in this dept. I feel.
On the DUIs, while not the police’s problem, I still think a better bus system would bring down the numbers on this. I know people shouldn’t drink and drive but I think this would also bring down the amount of traffic on the road and reduce the risk of responsible drivers being hit the others. Just my 2 cents.
Ms Howell we the motoring public do love to help but it really is your job to utilise the manpower that you have efficiently.
While I’m driving I’m not in a cop car (a deterrent) and so in truth it really not my job but being civic-minded and as a favor to my country when I do report drunk driving or other obvious offences to your dept.
Maybe yes just maybe if the senior officers who are reimbursed handsomely were to pay more attention to their primary work at RCIPS in delegating officers we wouldn’t have these weekly requests.
But instead of taking that time for delegation too many too often are away from their main posts for hours and hours each day seeking higher education.
We need y’all to be assigning and delegating your staff who will be on the road doing their work which we the public are paying for.
When we had the Traffic Dept the public was not inundated byso many requests as that was their primary focus and they did it well.
Perhaps you want to return that section so that the public feels assured the manpower we are paying for is actually deployed where needed. After all we have more cops per capita than many other places!
A week or so ago I observed a vehicle leaving an establishment and it was swerving all over the road and when the car which was in front of me trying to make it around the bad bend by the public beach I prayed no vehicles were coming in the other direction which none did. This vehicle then made its way to the 2 lane section of the road approaching the bridge and a jeep was on the left lane while this vehicle just ran this jeep off the left lane onto the side road to the indies suites and swerved back to the right lane and as we got over the bridge low and behold there was a roadblock. I stayed behind this vehicle and tried to get the officers attention and when I did get the make officers attention he looked in the direction the vehicle was traveling and his response to me was well the car already gone. I was appalled and said you know what who cares until they hit and kill some innocent person. Now this officer have the nerve to ask for the publics help.. This is beyond me. Too many times John public call 911 to report things and when the dust settles the caller is the one being harassed. They need to look into this and wonder why John public does not want to assist the POLICE with ANYTHING and personally I don’t blame them one bit..