Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas listens keenly as Donald Cooper explains the purpose of his trip to the Linstead Police Station, St. Catherine, on Tuesday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
OBLIVIOUS TO the fact that the officer he was speaking with was Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas, 60-year-old Donald Cooper spoke of his problems in a forthright manner at the Linstead Police Station, St. Catherine, on Tuesday.
Cooper, a Rastafarian, had gone to the station to file a report about an accident in which he was involved when he met up on a police delegation led by Commissioner Thomas.
"Good morning sir, are you getting through?" the commissioner asked the elderly man who was seated in the guardroom and speaking with the station guard on duty.
Speaking in a drawl, he explained to the Commissioner how he was hit from his pedal cycle by a motorist. The incident happened on the weekend in the Ewarton area of St. Catherine.
Commissioner Thomas, who listened keenly to the man's story, went on to advise him on the process involved in obtaining a doctor's certificate. The diminutive Mr. Cooper acknowledged the Commissioner's advice, saying "seen" at various intervals. Then he suddenly blurted out "You know that you are an intelligent man?"
When The Gleaner asked Mr. Cooper if he knew the officer he was speaking with, he said: "No, I don't know what him name, but is a good man because him give some advice."
The Gleaner also asked Commissioner Thomas his reasons for stopping by the guardroom and talking with Mr. Cooper.
"I wanted to hear some of the complaints of the citizens and find out if they were being treated fairly at the guardrooms," said Commissioner Thomas, who visited the rural towns of St. Catherine North, looking at the conditions of the police stations and speaking with rank and file policemen.
