Plain clothes officer pulls gun to stop machete attack
(CNS): A plainclothes police officer on patrol with a colleague in downtown George Town just after midnight on Sunday morning pulled a service weapon on a man who was about to attack another man with a machete, the RCIPS has said. At around 12:15am on 5 May, the police officers in plain clothes were on foot patrol along Seafarers Way and Cardinal Avenue when they were alerted to a disturbance. The officers then came upon a man armed with a machete who was about to assault another man at the location.
The RCIPS said in a press release, “The officers immediately identified themselves, and in an effort to prevent loss of life, one of the officers challenged the man armed with the machete using his service weapon.”
The man with the machete complied with the instructions and put down the blade. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possessing a restricted weapon and other offences relating to this incident. He was taken into custody where he remains pending further investigation.
CNS contacted the RCIPS about why an officer who was not in uniform and not part of the RCIPS Firearms Response Unit was carrying a gun while patrolling the streets of the capital. A spokesperson told us that they were unable to comment as it “relates to operational tactics”.
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Little Kingston is here to stay
You asked WHY he was carrying a gun? Maybe because he’s a law officer patrolling late at night in an area where there’s been quite a bit of violent crime. I thank god he was carrying a gun. It is the reason no one was hurt.
The point is that this is a change in tactic from the police. We can debate/agree it is a good one. But it is a fair question. And their ‘its operational’ is actually an almost fair answer. They do need to issue a follow-up statement to acknowledge that this is now something they do. Since its obviously now something they do.
Because the alternative is that a police officer ‘checked out’ a gun and then went and did a walk-around with a friend / fellow officer. In other places that’s part of the violence spiral that we’re all, including the police, trying to break here. Good policing reduces violence in the community.
Great work RCIPS we need more officers walking around like this ! CNS who said he was not part of the firearms response unit ? maybe he was, whatever the reason it worked driving around in a vehicle isn’t the only way to police foot patrols can be quite effective hopefully it continues
How has it taken mass shootings and absolute bedlam on our Islands for the COP to finally realise that police on the street works and what doesn’t, is overweight Jamaicans in AC police cars doing nothing?
Who knew?
It’s amazing what can happen when the police show up for work. Imagine traffic stops finding intoxicated youths with loaded hand guns? Or machete fights in machete fight areas! Is anyone surprised less than the public? Welcome to the world you’ve created for us RCIPS. Special Operations have limited follow-through. This work needs to be applied consistently over time, as regular duty scope, to reverse decades of poor expectations. Doing this protection and enforcement job improves safety, quality of life, property value, and destination appeal for every stakeholder. It also retains your job!
Good. This is what needs to be done. Make the bad guys think twice before trying $hit.
Lots of cover up which is concerning. Is the island really safe? Are we being honest to our visitors?
Wait until one, just a single one, of our visitors is mugged or otherwise harmed here. Game over. Then we will no longer have the perception of safety which we enjoy. Our visitors expect our law enforcement to keep them safe. It is most of why we have so many visitors.
Machete and knife attacks are literally happening every weekend. Carnivals attract those types so no wonder the police have to change their tactics and adapt. I’m sure the intended victim is very thankful as it sounds like he could have been killed or seriously wounded.
Not always. The flat sides are used to “slap sense”, the square edge to break coconuts, and the razor sharpened, as you might expect. Our orthopaedic surgeons are often busy after holidays putting people back together. A lot of domestic violence with defensive hand wounds. There doesn’t need to be a carnival, just a rotten person with booze and/or drugs – this applies to a broad section of our population, and both foreign and domestic.
Look skippy, it’s still assault and battery. You expect RCIPS to assess whether they assailant was intending a “slap” vs. a “chop”? If you need to move a drunk person back into play, you don’t use the flat of a machete; you push them away, urge them to move along.
If a person brandishes a machete, it is incumbent upon us all to assume they intend GBH. ’nuff said.
Kudos to the RCIPS!
Well done officer
Interesting how the RCIP now recognize how dangerous it is on the streets of Cayman that they now have plain clothes armed officers on patrol. Meanwhile the sitting duck population has to continue to buy into the whole “safe” Cayman that is promoted by CIG.
Machete to hack someone!?! This is medieval 3rd world primitive insanity.
jamaica stylez
Many generations of Cayman style, actually. Not long ago, even our Taxi drivers were warned about carrying gardening equipment in their cabs after sun down. These tools are never far away from the dominos betting.
Good work, but this made me laugh…
“…in an effort to prevent loss of life, one of the officers challenged the man armed with the machete using his service weapon.”
So, to prevent someone killing someone, someone else pulled a weapon designed to kill! Uno reverse that!
And yet it worked. Because the good guy had more firepower than the bad guy.
Could have had more but less lethal firepower. (Tazers, etc.) The question isn’t ‘should the good guys have appropriate tools’ but ‘is a gun the appropriate tool’. (It may be, or not, no harm in asking.) Combined with the irony of the wording, which was funny. I mean, threatening me with a hand grenade would make me put down a machete but no one argues that’s the appropriate tool for the job. 🙂
You stand in that place, all by yourself, opposing a person about to commit GBH. You ask yourself what tools you wish in your possession. I am glad the officer had the tools which the assailant respected. “Halt! or I’ll taze you”, might not have resulted in the same compliance.
We can always second-guess the RCIPS after the fact. You want to know what they deal with on a day-to-day basis, I suggest you enlist in the RCIPS and get back with us. Until then your judgement doesn’t make a difference. You don’t know what it is like to be in that tense moment when you are dealing with a violent person.
It’s called Peace through superior firepower.
That is the purview of a trained and experience law enforcement officer. YOU don’t have the training. I don’t have the training. They do, and this officer did a great thing. I hope that RCIPS puts dozens of trained and armed officers on the streets.
Who is downvoting this, and why!?
Reference to Cayman being third world and you are surprised you got down thumbs? Only surprised it didnt get a “sure its better than where you came from” or a “dont let the aircraft door hit you in the a$$”. Cant criticise Cayman – unless you preface your comment by saying you are multi generational or a born Caymanian.
where have you been?