By Leighton Williams and Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writers
A policeman stomps on- stage, glares
at Wayne Marshall, rips microphone and 'spliff' from the entertainer's grasp and demands "A whe yu a do?!"
IT IS DECEMBER 14, 2002 and deejay Mad Anju is on stage at the Marketplace on Red Hills Road, St. Andrew waxing warm with humorous lyrics at Stone Love's anniversary. Suddenly, a policeman stalks on the stage and accosts him.
The music stops. The huge crowd is stunned.
Until the 'Mad one' responds with 'Me no play chess cause me no check man, a police alone get pay fi check man...' The crowd roars and the policeman, having played out his extra role, slips out of the spotlight and back into his other night job.
Fast forward to July 2003, Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest's 'Dancehall Night' is in full swing and Wayne Marshall is 'chu chu chuing' his way into the hearts of the bumper crowd. He fetches a huge paper cone packed with green vegetable matter and the crowd oohs, aahs and howls. A policeman stomps on-stage, glares at Wayne Marshall, rips microphone and 'spliff' from the entertainer's grasp and demands "A whe yu a do?!"
This one is very realistic. After all this is Montego Bay, St. James the city where deejays who use foul language on-stage tend to end up signing autographs outside the Resident Magistrate's Court. The mood changes from ecstatic to tense in a heartbeat and switches to exuberance as Wayne Marshall retrieves his tools in trade and dismisses the policeman with one of his several marijuana odes.
A week later, though, Tony 'Mentally Ill' Matterhorn, ace selector and toaster, is getting into stride at 'Fully Loaded', held at Wavz in Negril. His language gets a bit out of hand and a policeman goes on-stage to address him. This time, though, it is not a matter of being realistic - it is very, very real.
The policeman is not party to the staged incident and he is not in a party mood at all. It does not help that Matterhorn is not to be denied his selector and speech time and makes his way back on-stage to 'deal with the matter', albeit temporarily.
The line between policing and partying is getting rather fuzzy, as some members of the force have added a new duty to their job description of late. The added responsibility is helping out artistes on-stage during their performances or in their music videos.
The roles that police have played in music videos recently include Elephant Man's Log On and Bling Dawg's Roll Out. However, as early as the late 1980s Fab Five employed the skills of actor Glen Campbell in playing the role of the 'policeman feeling sweet, him dash whe him baton an' him helmet' in the video for Ringroad Jam. Of course Mr. Campbell's humorous behaviour was not viewed as a problem by the police at the time.
However, the police's 'serving, protecting and reassuring' of an artiste's set has not gone over well with members of the police hierarchy, who say that such a practice can land the 'part-time actors' in trouble.
Police officers helping out an entertainer to add spice to a set or video happens at intervals. In the case of the music videos, such actions may not draw wrath of the police high command as long as permission was sought by artistes. However, the police appearing on-stage with artistes while on duty is a definite no-no.
ON DUTY
"Policemen on duty are not supposed to be involved in that sort of thing. If they are on duty they are supposed to be maintaining law and order, protecting life and property and preventing crime," explained Superintendent Alvena Ewan, who is in charge of the Personnel Department in the Office of the Commissioner.
A similar sentiment was echoed by Sergeant David White, the chairman of the Jamaica Police Federation, the organisation that represents rank-and-file members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) up to the level of inspector.
"He is not permitted to wear uniform while off-duty. It is even worse if he is using it to make money," said White.
There is a set procedure to be followed for a policeman to be reprimanded. In other words, for a member of the force to be penalised for his activities there has to be evidence that he was involved in such an act.
"The first thing there would have to be proof that the police is involved in such a thing. We wouldn't just go by hearsay and penalise the officer. If there is proof, they can be charged departmentally. The charges vary depending on the situation they were involved in. The penalty depends also on the charge," Ewan explained.
At present, the accused lawman would be brought up on departmental charges of being idle while on duty. The case would be tried before a superintendent and the severity of the infraction would be met with the appropriate sentence.
For the policemen who appear in videos and in the case of the use of police equipment, the situation is different. The video director would need to apply in writing to the Office of the Commissioner before permission is granted for use of the police vehicle or station. In the case of plays where a uniform is used, the procedure would be the same.
"If the car or station comes in the view of the camera while the video is being shot I don't believe anything is wrong with that. You wouldn't prosecute someone for that," said Lucius Thomas, the Deputy Commissioner of Police.
No statistics could be acquired as to how many requests were sought and how many permissions were granted.
DECISION
For deejay Bling Dawg, the use of police equipment in his 'Roll Out' video was decision taken by the director. The acquisition of the props and costumes was done by his management team.
Efforts to contact his management team about the use of police equipment in the videos proved futile. Still, if a cop wishes to pursue any of the above-mentioned activities during his spare time without the use of police equipment, he will not be guilty of an infraction.
"If they are off-duty that is their time. If they see it as a form of recreation there is not much one can do as long as he is on his own time," said Superintendent Ewan.
In terms of how the police will be viewed by the public for participating in a skit, both Superintendent Ewan and Sergeant White agreed that if the role was positive then it would not put the force in a bad light. "It depends on what was taking place at the time for the police to be viewed negatively or in a positive light. If he is involved in a skit that shows positive things then the society won't view the force in a bad light," said Sergeant White.
In the case of the skit with Wayne Marshall and the police officer at Reggae Sumfest, Deputy Commissioner Thomas told The Sunday Gleaner that the police officer should not have participated.
"In my view the police should never want to associate himself in anything like that which promotes something illegal as that," said Deputy Commissioner Thomas.
For 21-year-old Corey Edwards, a member of the public, a policeman appearing in a video is not a problem since they are a part of our society. However, he believes that their numbers should not be shown.
"I think the public will only see them in a negative light when they portray something they usually do on a daily basis. For example, in the case of a music video where the police came to lock off the dance people will see them in a bad light since no one likes a dance to end early. If its a case where the video shows them catching a thief then I think people will see them in a positive light," he said.
However, the on-stage skits, such as the one involving Wayne Marshall at Sumfest, often involve 'play-breaking' laws which chafe at many members of the party-going public - like the illegality of a 'one spliff'.
For now though, the police will continue to serve and reassure the artistes during their performances on stage and on the silver screen.
