THE EDITOR, Sir:

HAROLD MALCOLM's letter, 'Take Charge of the police force Mr Commissioner', said it and summed it up nicely. I am a Jamaican who left the island when I was six years old, and even though I did not see any of the atrocities by the cops in Jamaicans, or maybe I was too young to remember, I listened to my parents, especially my dad speak of it.

My dad grew up in one of the volatile areas of Jamaica, and he said he witnessed a lot of this, even though none happened to him, personally. I can remember visiting Jamaica last year with my husband and two small kids and witnessed a cop pulling a taxi driver over. The cop's words were, "dutty bwoy you blind", followed by Jamaican swear words.

My husband, a Canadian, said to the cop, "you are supposed to be setting an example and this is how you behave?" The Cop's response was, "you white people doan know wha a gwan dung here wid the criminal dem sah". I had to translate what the cop said. My husband then asked him why he thought the man was a criminal simply because he had a traffic infraction.

Suffering from an inflated ego

This cop was apparently suffering from an inflated ego ... why, I don't know, as no one respects the Jamaican cops. They are hated and feared, he began to show a semblance of civility towards the motorist simply because (his words not mine) we are foreigners, and I pulled out my camera to record this abuse.

Even though I have lived in Canada for 30 years and left Jamaica as a small child, I still visit every year and love my country. I am hoping for a better Jamaica in the near future.

I am, etc.,

Dehanna

dpwalker@can.rogers.com

Toronto, Canada