We are more than willing to grant you, Mr. Police Chief Commissioner DE WITTE, our sincere benefit of the doubt as far as your promises are concerned.
After all, we have said it before- and care to repeat it ever so often.
Most of the problems on among others alleged police brutality, are not of your making, since their root-causes go way before you ever landed on the 'Friendly-island'.
However occupying the office of Police Chief Commissioner we have no other choice than to contact you as first step in our absolute determination to get justice.
In addition, Mr. DE WITTE, in all humility-, and sincerity as well, we wish to advise you to take seriously the current level of social anxiety on the island.
As a matter of fact, the situation as it relates to the alleged experiences by Mr. Cimmaron MARLIN, have flared up the tempers of many within our community to extremely volatile proportions and interestingly enough are transforming Cimmaron into a local St. Martin symbol-, martyr and the very embodiment of abused innocence.
Many of us remeber what happened back then to Steve BIKO_-, who died as the result of torture at the hand of South-African police in 1977, while he was in custody.
With this in mind, we caution that any wrong decision-, or perceived cover-up of what actually took place to him, might render this case a 'watershed moment' in our history, and a 'rallying cry' for people to to follow the 'Egyptian resolution model' and say,- 'enough is enough'.
Therefore Mr. DE WITTE, we hope you would be willing to break the traditional code of 'circling the wagons' /the 'Macho- intimidation-reflex'.
Rather, we hope that you will be able to set a new tone in the relationship between the police-force and the public in general, and avoid further escalations.
You can count on our support to that end.
However-, before we reach there, the facts must be exposed and possible wrongdoings on the part of the police and/or of 'suspects' must be sanctioned adeqautely.
Rule for one, rule for all - no place for 'class-justice'.
drs. Leopold JAMES