FOR POLICE to get the respect they demand, they too must treat citizens with respect.
This was the advice given to the police by a High Court judge who yesterday ordered the State to compensate a Marabella taxi-driver for malicious prosecution and unlawful detention.
“Respect is a two-way street,” Justice Frank Seepersad said as he ruled ordered the State to pay taxi-driver Anthony Evelyn a total of $95,000 in general and compensatory damages for three charges of using annoying language, resisting arrest and failing to comply with the instructions of a police officer, which the judge found were fabricated by the police.
Seepersad said it was extremely unacceptable for the police to engage in disrespectful conversations with civilians.
He said the police were vested with tremendous authority to curtail the rights of citizens, but it did not permit them to be rude or offensive.
“It is either a lack of training and sensitisation for the job or an abuse of office.”
Evelyn, who had been given a ticket by the police for parking in a no-parking zone on High Street, San Fernando, in 2014, was represented by attorney Cedric Neptune.