Every day, the Liberia National Police puts on display its fleet of sedans on Monrovia’s damaged roads to show it is prepared to fight crimes and have sufficient logistics, especially during nightfall to do so.
But such display of force, bravado and machismo were absent from the men and women in blue, led by experienced hands, when armed robbers killed the father of Errol Brent in Matadi during a robbery attempt.
This brazen act shows that despite the PR stunt the Police employ daily in the name of erecting checkpoints across the city being manned by famished officers who are yet to get a salary (over seven months) and thereby harassing the living daylight out of motorcyclists and kehkeh drivers, the reality is far from the optics.
Like Sin City, following the removal of those checkpoints, Monrovia becomes akin to Robert Rodriguez’s flick that starred Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba.
Every and anything goes. From Zogos harassing you in Sinkor to armed robbers attacking the homes of Ms. Samantha Carter and killing the father of Errol Brent, it makes one question where is the vaunted presence of the Police as we see during daylight from the sirens that bellowed from the donation of Mr. Mahama?
Why do they suddenly disappear? Is there a Kraken that comes from beneath the ocean that makes them afraid because they do not possess the wriggling head of Medusa? If not, so then why is their presence not felt at nightfall just as it is felt during daylight?
Well, they are in hiding in plain sight across the country, not saving lives and properties but rather protecting corporate institutions such as banks and concession companies, while leaving citizens like Ms. Carter and the late Mr. Brent to fend for themselves.
They go by monikers such as BPSD and can be seen with AK47s and M16s from the Central Bank of Liberia to GT Bank. Basically they are being pimped, a practice from the past admin that has now rolled over to the current admin.
Unlike during the past when the current police leadership were then underlings in the ranks, there was a police presence across the city at night. One could walk from Lonestar to Capitol By-Pass without the fear of being harassed or attacked.
But the realities are quite different today in a city overridden by addicts and hoodlums waiting to accost you at every street corner while the police are nowhere to be seen or come to one’s rescue.
Emergency numbers such as 911 are perennially off although they are splashed on billboards and social media as the panacea to solve crime at night and make Monrovia safe. Police cars that are seen daily with bellowing sirens suddenly disappear during nocturnal hours when they could have come to the rescue of Mr. Brent and Ms. Carter.
Monikers such as the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and the Police Support Unit (PSU) seem to exist in names only. Daily press conferences highlighting the achievements of the Police under the new leadership are not reflective during nightfall.
And so it’s a free ride for night time vices. As former president Weah intimated, “buy your CCTV Camera and be your own security.”