Industry players warn promoters of illegal events - No good fighting with police
Published:Sunday | October 4, 2020 | 12:12 AMShereita Grizzle - Staff Reporter
Industry insiders are today sounding an ominous warning to party promoters who have been clashing with law enforcers when they attempt to pull the plug on unauthorised entertainment events to quit while they are ahead. The entertainment industry players with whom The Sunday Gleaner spoke say they are disheartened at news of police officers being harmed in the line of duty and are urging their colleagues to cease before the authorities start pushing back. They said that if the latter should come to pass, the State would win and the people would be left ‘licking their wounds’.
“Me, personally, can’t see through dis whole fighting-wid-di-police-over-party thing. These are the same men and women who are working on the front lines every day, risking their lives to ensure our safety. When they are dispersing the gatherings, it is for our own good, so make we just obey dem and see how soon we can get back to our usual programming,” said Whitfield ‘Whitty’ Henry, promoter of Uptown Mondays, a popular weekly dancehall party. “It’s not a good look when you hear on the news that police go lock off an event after curfew hours, plus never have permit, and get hurt. Come on, Jamaica! We have to do better than that. We all frustrated, but mek we just relax nuh man. We cant fight the State. Anybody who think dem can mash up police car and hurt police officers and den the industry free up after that, dem a joke,” he added.
MORE CONFRONTATIONS
His sentiments were echoed by artiste manager and former Sting promoter Heavy D. He believes that there will be more clashes between the people and the police as the country approaches the festive season but says that more confrontations will only lead to more problems for patrons and promoters. “Christmas a come and people a guh wah party, so we going to see more police a clash wid people, but fighting with police is a big joke. We nah go win. A waste a fight dat if yuh ask me. We just need fi wait because if you look at the countries weh ban dem belly and sacrifice, dem all right yah now,” he said. “Mi can’t see why people would see we’re going through a global pandemic and a keep events then when police come lock it off, dem want beat off police. I understand that people need entertainment and dem miss partying, but if we violate the order, things only a go get worse.”
But for Stone Love boss and promoter of the popular Weddy Weddy Wednesdays, Winston “Wee Pow’ Powell, things don’t always have to get worse. In his interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Powell shared that although he does not condone the actions of anyone who harms a police officer in the line of duty, he believes that sometimes, the situation between the police and the people that ends up in violence could be prevented if the police would carry out their jobs with a little bit more professionalism.
He said that people are wrong for hosting unauthorised events after curfew hours but says that sometimes, the police’s approach when they turn up to these events is what leads to “all hell breaking loose”. “I don’t condone what has been taking place with the police, but I want the police to be careful of how they approach the people when they go to lock off these events. We know it’s a breach, but the police should be trained in how to de-escalate situations, not fuel them. A lot of times when you hear things get out of control with these lock-offs is because of how the police handle themselves. We have do things with respect.”
Speaking of doing the right things, Senior Superintendent of Police Stephanie Lindsay, who heads the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit, said to the Sunday Gleaner that if Jamaicans adhere to the rules and the country begins to see a sharp decline in COVID cases, some semblance of normalcy could return to the island. “We know people don’t like the restrictions. We know people want to go back to doing all the things they’re used to doing, but in order for us to do that, we have to make the sacrifice now,” she said. “As long as we keep going out there, the numbers will climb, and it will be increasingly difficult for us to get back to doing the things we love.”