SOLDIER COULD BE PUNISHED FOR DISSING COPS …JDF says corporal was unprofessional in viral video

SOLDIER COULD BE PUNISHED FOR DISSING COPS

... JDF says corporal was unprofessional in viral video

A Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) corporal, who is attached to the National Reserve, is now under investigation for the unprofessional manner in which he dealt with policemen who gave him a ticket for running a red light along the Spanish Town bypass recently.

The JDF's Acting Civil Military Corporations Officer, Major Sheldon Bryan, told THE STAR that they are in receipt of two videos that captured the incident, both from the policemen's angle and the soldier's angle.

privileged leave

He explained the investigations have so far revealed that the soldier was on privileged leave at the time of the incident.

"There is a professional sense that we all as soldiers are trained to bear, whether you are in uniform or not. Certainly, from the looks of [the videos], some of those actions may come across as unprofessional. The JDF is in no way shape or form a proponent of any behaviour that will cause us to be portrayed in a particular light, so it is being investigated," Bryan said.

violate me

In one of the videos the soldier is seen reaching into the policemen's vehicle to video the faces of the lawmen, at which point the cop writing the ticket says, "You a violate me space." The soldier then respond, saying, "Mi nah violate no space."

The soldier then goes on boisterous rant, demanding his documents while the officer was still writing the ticket. "ID! ID! Driver's license! Hand over my driver's license now! Pawdy, hand ova me driver's license, a just that me a say to you!," the soldier demanded.

During the confrontation, the cop also noted that he smelled alcohol on the solder's breath and indicated that he will order a breathalyzer test, to which the soldier says, "Yeah man, a because me a soldier, a that's why you a deal wid me so. If me was a police you just let me go."

Since the videos was uploaded, many persons on social media have weighed in on the face-off, with many crying shame on the soldier.

One person commented saying, "Him should be in handcuff and him face in the dirt. Run red light wid alcohol pon him breath and nuff up himself too? Bwoy, dem police deh calm a swear."

So far, the soldier has been called off leave for the duration of the investigation. Bryan said they are awaiting the findings to determine what sanctions the soldier will face.

"Our legal office will then look into it and determine what comes of it. It could be anything depending on what the circumstances are," he said.