Island Law

One of the doctors that I used to work with warned me before we moved down here that the police target white people. DWW (driving while white) was a pretty common offense. She has an uncle that lives on a nearby island that had experienced this quite a bit. The paler you are, the more likely you were to be a target.

I can verify that this is true on this island. Only it isn't just white people that they target. They are specifically targeting white students. If you look like a tourist, you'll get away with more crap. Since the police here are pretty useless and unbelievably lazy, they are mostly looking for traffic related offensives.

It's not like the US where the police pull you over either. Down here, they set up road blocks. They are looking for expired tags, broken/damaged license plates, expired insurance, and current driver's licenses. These are set up on the main road (i.e. the only road) so it's not like you can just take side streets to get around it. You have no option but to go through it. So you better have everything up to date.

Now, I know that it doesn't sound like they are targeting students based on the fact that they stop everyone. The thing is, they set up these road blocks near the school. The traffic that is going towards the school is stopped but the traffic that is going the other way is free to drive by. Sounds a little suspicious doesn't it?

Last week we received an email from someone at the school (a high ranking school official) after a student was thrown in jail for driving an uninsured car. Wasn't even his car, but he got to go to jail. And he'll have a huge fine. The email explained to us that it wasn't a rumor that the police were targeting students. It was a fact.

The police will find any reason to fine students. A friend of ours was recently in a car accident. She was stopped behind two taxis (driven by locals). One of the waved her around them (they were picking people up) and she went. Then as she was going around them, one of the taxis pulled out rather quickly and hit her. Her car rolled. Yep, she was hit hard enough to roll her car. It landed upside down. She was wearing her seat belt and was just hanging there. No one got out to help. There were two taxis full of people and no one got out to help her. These taxis are 15 passenger vans. 30 people and not one even walked up to her car despite her screams for help. At some point, 2 people who were driving by got her out of the car and brought her to the hospital.

The fault doesn't belong to any one person. They are both at fault. However, our friend was charged with a hit and run. Because she went to the hospital. Her car was upside down. She was injured (arm looked like hamburger). A hit and run. Unbelievable.

Sadly, over the weekend a student died in a car accident. We weren't that close to him, but we knew him from football and he had been down here just as long as us. It's very possible that he had been drinking prior to driving but what we've heard is that someone came into his lane to pass a car, while approaching a hill, and hit him head on as he came over the hill. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car.

The police have not released any information just yet but no one is expecting it to be an accurate account of what happened. It is incredibly unfair to his family. They have a right to know what really happened. He will be blamed for this. Sure, he shouldn't have been drinking. But it is so very, very stupid to pass a car when approaching a hill. You just can't see if anyone is coming. The road is narrow, only one lane in each direction. There was no where for either one of them to go.

The police here should be focusing on the real problems on this island. Who cares if a license plate is cracked? How about going after the murderers? Or the gang of locals that are robbing local businesses? Or maybe they could look for the bastards that break into homes? I guess real criminals are just too hard to go after.