Hi everyone.
I finally found an article to blog!
There’s a video shared by my dear colleague (and freelance yashvinblogs.com reporter) Bhanu. He wanted me to comment on his link on Facebook but I decided not do so there, but on his insistence, I will share a few words, just after the video.
[yashvinblogsfan]
This video was shot last year in Goodlands in front of the “Monte Games” (Casino). Comments on the web show people highly criticizing the police officers on the scene. In my opinion, I think that these people most probably do not know anything except “La police la pou proteze nou”. How, Why, When? They simply don’t care.
You may have a very similar reaction too, but please do read the few points below before heading towards the comments section :
Different units of the police force :
The Police force is divided into different units, each with a specific purpose. For instance, you can’t ask a “normal” police officer (GIPM – Groupe d’Intervention de la Police MauricienneEdited by Yashvin, thanks to Timothy‘s comment) to conduct a rescue operation/drug case . This might not be the thing he does best. Similarly, the police officers in the above video are simply not trained to handle the above situation which has rapidly turned into a violent fight scene.
You have surely seen these guys, heavily armed and ready to force into and scare a hostile crowd. Yes, we are here talking about the Special Supporting Unit (SSU). I can guarantee you, you won’t see anyone of them standing on a pedestrian crossing, stopping vehicles so as school kids can cross the road safely.
In similar scenarios as the one above, the SSU are quickly requested in such environment to bring everyone down to earth, even thugs. They undergo tough training sessions and are highly effective in accomplishing their mission.
Crime prevention
One of the roles of the police force is crime prevention. As you have surely noticed, the police officers there have tried to talk to the trouble makers and disperse them.
As we say in creole “met ene dialogue”. In vain, despite the numerous attempts.
Putting their life in danger
And what if one of those guys took out a gun? Some of the police officers were carrying a tonfa, that’s all!
As far as I still remember, this specific case was mentioned in the media and yet, these police officers were not blamed or punished.
Blaming is so easy
Ok, let’s say that the police officers decided to take control of the situation by (trying to, at least) neutralizing the numerous guys there. They were outnumbered, to the advantage of the 2 gangs there. This action of the police officers could have triggered violent reactions from the thugs there, resulting in serious injuries most probably on the police side. Would this have brought any positive change/calmness in the current situation?
Most of you might perhaps answer : “NO!”
So my dear friend Bhanu, here’s what I wanted to share with you.
I agree that cases of corruption/brutality etc exist in the police force, I don’t deny it but is it fair that the whole police force should be blamed because of a few “brebis galeuse”/black sheep?
If you follow this blog regularly, you might have noticed that I do not hesitate to write against the police force too when necessary. So, you can’t say that I am biased, I just wanted to inform some people about things that they might ignore.
So people, try to put yourself in their shoes for once before criticizing. A little knowledge is dangerous.
And now, I would like to have your point of view and please please, try to be constructive.
Do you find this article interesting? Please Share and Like!
Yashvinblogs 
Love your explanation, truly 🙂
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@bhanu: Merci!
Now I hope that other people might find this article useful, especially in case they talked nonsense earlier, due to lack of information.
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hey yash..when this happen…did that guy actually had a big sort of knife…u r right..if i was in those police shoes at that time…i would do the same..coz they are like a normal civilian standing..only difference is that they had a police uniform(neighbourhood watch police)..they were not armed with anything..no taser gun..no metal jacket..not the least a radio..so they can just ask backup from arm forces in case of emergency…those peolple saying that the police are coward…ask them wat would do with bare hand standing against a group of wild animals..with knife..easy to talk..got loads of uneducated people like them..
anyway do you have a link for the whole story…i wanna read it thx
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Yeah… saw that video on You tube while watching stupid videos 😦 about fights in Mauritius…
I agree with u that they can’t take the risk of messing with the other guys cause they were armed and could be heavily hurt… BTW how do you know that this is “Monte Games” ???
These “Sois disant Tapeur” usually mess around also during daytime as i know…every time there is a fight starting..they are there to “Met diFe ek tir sab pou desam dimoune…”..
Nowadays, in Goodlands some guys turn their houses on top of building into Billard House..phfff… just to make money with the foolish students who run from school…
Due to that situation, they have recruited some “Bouncers” who are more tough that normal police officers.. to prevent such occurrence…but in vain… these places remain insecure all the time… such as palagames.. 😀
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hey dats a really gud post.. i agree wid ur point of view.. honestly ther r some tym wen d police officers r to b blamed, bt we shud also b fair to them in tyms like this!!
those officers in dat video were after all risking their lives only by being present there at that time (not armed).
i knw abt this incident coz my elder cousin broother is in the SSU n they had to go there that night to calm things off..
thnx for posting this.. hopefully it myt change the way ppl see things 😀
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Hmm.. so is the mauritian police force underarmed? Sa ki mo truve bizarre mwa, c sa policier ki ress emplace ek croise la main la.. bizarrement c nek gros la ki wadir ine fr 1 move.. maybe bne lezot la newbies.. mai bon.. Moi si mo pas ti pou rentre ladan, mai at least mti pou call kikene ki kve fr kique choze et a okene moment bne policiers la ine paret pou al call SSU ou ERS ein.. And i wonder if there was even any follow up on that matter! Eski sa piti long cV la ine areter vu ki clairement liem line tire sab..?
Si kikene ti bleC, mo penC zot ti cave poursuivre la police pou non assistance a personne en danger.. Loyally we serve is their motto.. Serve who and for what purposes remains to be defined..
Cheers,
Kavish
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@kevin: Mo pas content give the link to this site kotzot, mais pour le moment, ena zis sa meme ki mo p truver la kant mo p google. Voici link la ; http://www.kotzot.com/news/mauritius-police.I hate that site koz most of the time (98%) they copy paste articles from other newspapers.
@Nirvanknight: Have a look at the link mentioned above (Copied from Defimedia!). Yesterday, I came across another article with the name “Monte Games” mentioned.
@Kavish: As you have perhaps noticed, none of them had radio sets in this video. This does not prove that reinforcement was not called. Remember, you are only seeing what the fixed camera recorded.
However, if you watch the video carefully, at 00:48seconds, one of the officers on site takes him mobile phone (Most probably PERSONAL MOBILE PHONE) and makes a call. He might perhaps have called his wife to ask what’s for breakfast tomorrow?
True, the elder one tried to become between the 2 groups but at some moment, a younger police officer also tried to talk to the people there.
Did you notice what happened? No?
View the video at 03:56seconds.
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Premierement GIPM c pa normal police officer- c “commando” Maurice. the elite force of Mauritian police. donc edit to article.
Second, I agree with you that these people should think about their life. But at least they should ask for support. And when you put police force near a casino you should expect them to be armed properly. Parer a toute evantualitee. pa juste metter pou faire zolie. To pa mette banne dimoune ki abituer prend deposition cotte ene casino.
For me the police is to be blamed here. Not the ones there but the one taking decision.
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the only person to be blamed is the one who is authorising game premisses everywhere. do you want police to have gun amd shot on everyone. no those fighters who are to be blamed . zotte sauvage ou vine jouer apres ou aller. si ou envi lageur prend ene camarade alle faire la boxe ou bien alle rode plis fort ki ou alle la geurre,
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@Timothy: Merci Timothy pu sa precision la. Mone fek modifier l’article.
As for arming the guys there, perhaps you might agree with me, there are big risks involved, even if there are sometimes an armed policeman posted at the entrance.
For example :
What happens if people attack this armed police officer and take his gun?
Does the police officer has the right to use his gun?
As far as I know, in the above situation at this casino, he would be blamed if ever he had made use of his gun.
You introduced a new point : Yes, the ones taking the decisions might be the one to be blamed but unfortunately people commenting on these videos are blindly blaming the guys on the field.
Thanks a lot for your point of view 🙂
It was much appreciated!
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Thanks for the exposé Yashvin. Nice one as usual and u r indeed right and fair in your words.
BUT… There were SIX policemen at that site. I supposed they were there to secure the place. The footage went for around 9 mins and i suppose the real incident started much much earlier (since 6 policemen were already on the spot)! Let’s be fair again, maybe a total of 15 mins?
If i take the motto of ‘Crime Prevention’ that’s so much used by policemen, what happened if someone was brutally agressed or even killed there on the spot? These incident generally can easily turn to hell.
Yashvin, let’s be fair again, these policemen are TRAINED PPL (whether the training is only for giving traffic signals in places where we have traffic lights already or on round abouts, i dont know… but i suppose that they must be trained for man-handling as well). Being six policemen on the site, they should have been able to handle the situation. Even if the situation is beyond their control, why not summon for reinforcement??? Not at any moment, we saw one of these blue guys summoning for assistance!
Coming to ur last conclusive paragraph, i will just ask you this: Would you have felt better if their lack of action resulted in the death or a bloody gang war?? Would this have reassured the Mauritian public in general??? Do you think we feel safer here in Mauritius when we are seeing these images??? Where is the famous Crime Prevention???
It’s very easy to understand their reaction and so on, but THEY got to understand that by enrolling in the police force that they r taking a very important position. There are responsibilities that are tied to these posts… and i dont find that by saying “others are already corrupted officials, so why should we do otherwise!”
Anyway… ur reaction now :p
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Enn bien vieux video ca!!!
Well, the police in London is also not armed. They carry only batons and face prosecution from an independent panel if they ever hit a suspect. Pourtant la situation n’est pas si chaotique que ca a Londres. Mo croir li aussi enn probleme de mentalite de la part de la population. Zot nepli ena respect pou la police malgre ki la loi bien severe pou bann dimoun ki agresse enn policier en uniforme.
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@CanCreT:
Hey hi! Thanks for coming and especially for moving 1 step forward, that is commenting 😉
You said it : “These incident generally can easily turn to hell.”, that’s indeed right. Six policemen, loads of thugs and one among them with something which looks like a “sabre” while another one gets hold of a chair.
I don’t know how far this might be true, but in the first minute of the video, one of the police officers does take out a mobile phone. To do what? Perhaps to call for help, only the police can confirm this.
And you mentioned that : “i dont find that by saying “others are already corrupted officials, so why should we do otherwise!â€. Perhaps you got me wrongly interpreted my words. I would invite you to read some comments on youtube to witness the language used by viewers there. A bit exagerrated.
I would be glad if more information about this incident could be made available, about actions that were taken or if reinforcement was called. Anyone?
@Bruno : Yeah Bruno, an old video indeed.
I also think that some people do not “fear” the police because of politics (or having people under their control). We might also link the fact that “tappeurs/bouncers” etc are the one who make the rule in these places (casinos/clubs) nowadays.
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the policemen could have asked for more support! Not just stand there watching the guy getting beaten. Just imagine if it would be you or one of your relatives!
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human rights.police FORCE to POLICE SERVICE my dear meme to kill a person to gaigne droit bater.Alors zot faire councelling mais no use of force….NEW POLICE SERVICE IN MRTIUS
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@Alk27: Effectively and no one here can confirm or deny this part since as I said, you see one of the police officers using something like a mobile phone to communicate.
What happened after the video? Did more officers come on the spot? Unfortunately, I don’t hold any answers to these questions.
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Ki mo pou dier parfoi to peur quand to pas ban place la sir tou si to ar to fammi me mo espere laloi ava fer so travail
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very informative article indeed..mo pa ti kne sa moi..infact ena fois moi mem mne dire..ki la police pas fr travay bien kan tende sa bane kaliT cas la..mais thx 2 u i can nw undrstd y it is so in sum cases..
toutefois mo penC ki ene policier pas bisin train li pu ene kitchose specific..koz kpv arriV bane momments urgents kt bien bisin ene authoriT responsable..
aprE oci..zt besoin equipe zt bien..si zt pas mem en mesure pu protege zt mem..komen nu le zt protege nu??
thx again xD
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WOW..ENA BANE LA TETE BRILé dans sa pays la!!! pfff!!!
ena de koi la police pa kapav rent la dans zis ek ene matrak…alors ki lezot ti ena sabre!!! Mo pas ti pu envi retruv mo mari (si li ti ene policier) retourne lakaz ene la main ou lipied en moins akoz bane imbecile.
Dacor ki la police so travail metre lordre etc..mais pas veut dire ki li bzin “fer le couyon” ek rentre partou mem si li koner ki li pu agrave la situation.
Mo hope ki sa ban imbecile la ine arested ek condané!
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Watching this video made me ponder the following:
Would there be a difference to the filmed scene if the 6 police officers (present in the video) were to be replaced by the same number of … nuns?
Answer: NONE (or at least no major difference). All of them would have probably called 999 (for reinforcement or assistance) but, oh!, the policemen have sworn ‘to serve and to protect’ and get paid, by tax payers i.e. us, to preserve LAW & ORDER.
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OMG!
I thought this blog was about good news only. Now I’m shocked to life.
Thanks Yashvin
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Nice 1 as usual. Ben moi mo condamne institution ki responsable pu securitE population dns nou pays.Problem as som1 mentioned comes frm up, the decision-makers responsible to define the duties of the police-force. A quoi vaut une force policiere qui ne peut meme pas proteG le publique ou prendre 1 kelkonk action dns de tel cas et dzole pu mo mank 2 connaisance lor sujet la mais ban autoriT suposer conner ki ena ban personnes dangereux ki frekente ban casinos et as far as I know, 1 policier reste posT sur l’entrE ban casinos(I dunno the exact circumstances) mais zot la com ban statues koi? A koi vaut 1 telle presence? vaut mieux pas gaspille ban policiers la zot letemps(zot bien capav dormi dns police-station @ nite)Why post them on such places if all they can do under such circumstances is being passive or use their voice to calm such situations?
Mo pas blame ban policiers la dns ce cas particulier mais mo ti content fer resortir ki 1 facteur ki absent parmi la force policiere C’est moral values, basic ones like respect for others 🙂 des fois mo outrE par l’actions de CERTAINS ban policiers and they’ve got no respect at all for the uniforms that they wear!Along with the physical training I do hope they get some sort of training on basic moral values in the future!
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Yashvin, very nice article and compassionate as you are, you have gone to the pains of comparing the training of the GIPM and SSU with that of “ordinary” policemen. Let me just remind these ti-bolom blé some of the basics here, with the 6 policemen against 5/6 “la-têtt brilé”:
Рdialogue Рthey attempt to psychology of reasoning: Great! Would have worked fine in a cit̩ ouvri̬re, but with that aggressive group who is bent on verbally harassing you, dialogue is not appropriate.
– if dialogue did not work, why don’t you call for reinforcement? You had 10 minutes to do so!
– you had batons in your hands. And you keep watching along with your colleagues an aggressive group of 5 people attacking (with batons similar to yours) the property of a citizen? At 1:56 into the clip, there’s one standing on the right, one arm akimbo, as if not concerned by anything than having a baton for leaning on and redistributing the weight of his (very nice) pot-belly. Ou ti bizin amenn pistass pou pliss appécier!
– the tonfa is a deadly weapon when “properly” used. My dad (a retired policeman) showed me how you immobilize anyone with that thing – you can easily crack a rib, damage some spinal nerves or rip/snap some tendons/ligaments very effectively with that. The difference between then and now is the lack of proper training. Man, if you have to work with a baton, ask for training to use it. Sinon, tou dimoune capav declar mason apres napa capave foute nargnié quand dimann li monte enn miray blok! And don’t forget: if you are to carry any weapon, you must ensure that you are properly trained to prevent anyone snatching it from you and using it AGAINST you… Pa dire vinn moi ki dans travail missié-la inn force toi, parski to bann syndicalist bien content servi sa-mem argument training-la pou vinn dimann tout-sorte kalité compensation!
– the use of force: some of your colleagues who ride +500cc bikes have the guts to swear at you (and your ancestors) if you have the “culot” of taking time to make way for some minister’s car during peak hours. Some other colleagues of yours recently arrested and brought to court a man for not paying driving penalties, and later realised (in front of the magistrate) that it was a case of mistaken identity and that the poor guy did not even know how to drive… And here, with your batons and your “avantage du nombre”, you don’t use them for “disuasion”. You, as an enforcer of the law, must have a problem with your priorities…
– finalement, pas vinn dire moi mo pa capaw intervenir parski mo perr mo la-vie, mo ena fam-zenfan lakaz pe attann moi, mo pe ziss batt-batté pou gagne enn ti overtime pou paye mo loan lakaz, patati-patata ek sipaki plaingnaz gonaz enkor la-hein! Ar sa kalité raisonnement-poltron la, tou dimounn ti pou rest dans enn grotte ek pas gagne ditou contact ar lezott humains. You are paid for this job and you’ve got to do it with courage, just like the commissioner recently said. You are a law enforcer, not a passive onlooker. Sinon ou ti bizin alle rode enn lott travail ou faire. Si enn ti zaffer coumha ou pa’nn capav handle ek bizin SSU/GIPM, abé ki-faire ti mett ou la avec arme ek en groupe?
And what I’ve learned from anger management: when a group gets hot-headed, attack the apparent leader first, and do it at the very first opportunity if you want to break their momentum. If you don’t and start talking/negotiating with “sans-comprend” you may be actually stoking the fire… Bon, sorry, mo pas la pou faire enn lecture ar sa-bann dimoune-la, mais mo ti cwar c’est bann basics ki zot inn bizin apprann dans lekol de police. Si zot dire “pas ti dans nou syllabus sa”, abé, my friend, welcome to reality!
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Mo reste goodlands, c’est 1 village tranquille ek bon pu vivre..Mais avec l’arrivE banne casino ek bars tous sa, village la p vine dangereux.
Mo raconte zotte 1 experience,
1 samedi asoir, mo ti p marcher dans main road dans village. Premier coute, mone trouve 1 dimounce kine soue ek ki p marC lor chemin. Desuite, mo traverse chemin ek mone alle lotte coter chemin, tension gagne couyonade.
Couma mone fini traversE, ena mini van arreter pres cotte sa dimoune soue la, ek 5-6 figures desan la dans ek coummence menace li..La, mone gagne peur net la, mo coummence marche vite vite..
Mo alle plis devant, aster mo trouve 2 zenesse p marche ek p vine dans mo direction. Ene la ti ena 1 samouraille ek 1 genre de baton dans so la main..lotte la osi ti ena kit chose avec li..
ben mo ti lor trotoir la..mone pass zis acoter zotte. Apres sa, mone aller 1 trait sans arreter..
Franchement, c’est tres decevant ce que j’ai vu ce soir la sans oublier que la station de police etait tres proche et il n’ya avait aucun policier sur la route.
Zot ti p boir cafe endans mo penC! Bien bizin mette 1 l’orde.
Sinon, mone reouvert mo site, http://pirateview.org, c’est un forum de partage cotte to gagne banne zafaire lor multimedia, dessins, graphic design, programming et osi banne free downloads couma banne games, music tous sa!XD
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Goodlands suposement, 1 grand village. Ena 2 casino, night club, encore banne lezot batiment. Mais coter infrastructure sportive, bien limiter. Pena em 1 club de velo. 1 jardin/park osi pena, kot dimoune cav alle casse 1 poz pendant weekend. Billiard? pas cozer, p poucer couma champignon.
Bon blier tous sa aster! hey yash, to cav creer 1 topic lor velo/cyclisme a Maurice et aussi surtout lor aspect securite lor la route. Tous les jour, mo trouve banne cyclists lor autoroute et sa fait moi plaisir!
Moi Siki mo dire, le Cyclisme pu vinne tres populaire 1 jour a Maurice. Mai faudrai ki dimounce ena soutient necessaire..
To bizin organise 1 ti journee de course de velo, 1 jour. Tous banne visiteurs to blog, prend zot velo ek faire 1 ti letour de l’ile..:D
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Anyone knows the reasons that triggered this fight??
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Astr ki mne gagne ene locasion check video la…
You are right, ene tas dimounes facilement fini blame banne lezots… mais zot pas meme penC et essaye mette zot dans sa banne dimounes la so place….
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Btw, They could have at least alerted the SSU squad at the start itself… No one thought abt that?
C vrai zot pas pou capave handle sa situation la tout seule… Mais they should have thought of alerting the SSU earlier… Enfin capave zot ine fr li et banla ine tarD… We cannot really judge anyone apart banne foutaire desorde la in such a situation…
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I bet, had these policemen taken action against those wanna-be thugs, this same video would’ve been used against them, titled “violence policière”…
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