Context.

Context is one ah dem tings people say yuh have tuh put tings in tuh fully understand some udder related ting.

It just like ah next ting people does also say: everyting is relative.

Ah wouldn’t be surprised eef it eh have udder tings people does say buh let mih stick wid context fuh now an put what ah goin an say about Gary Griffith into it.

When T&T did finally start searchin fuh ah Commissioner ah Poleece, I would ah disqualify Gary Griffith from gettin de job. Someting about how he was lobbyin fuh it was stickin in mih craw. De feelin only get wuss when people start sayin he should get de job. Mih dislike went back tuh when he was Minister ah National Security. Ah wasn’t ready tuh take dat amount ah ole tork again.

I did also believe anybody who was part ah de establishment was too close tuh de convoluted entity charged wid protectin an servin de people ah Triniland. As such dat person shouldn’t be de one tuh clean out de Aegean Stables dat is de TTPS.

Den when he get de job an start runnin he mouth ah felt ah was justified. Is like de man did find ah wy tuh keep he name in de news. At least he wasn’t doin it de way women wid Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy does do it — harmin dey chirren.

Ah could still be right in mih analysis buh, after watchin CoP Gary Griffith in ah interview wid Morning Edition’s Fazeer Mohammed, I more dan ready tuh bite mih tongue an see eef he go deliver.

In udder words, Gary impress de dickens out ah mih. Granted dat could be because he sayin tings ah agree wid 101 percent.

What else ah could do when he respond tuh de idea from people who say de poleece should disarm who shootin at dem? Me eh know eef who wid dat opinion never hold ah water gun in dey life, like he suggest doh. He was real descriptive invokin de Matrix wid poleece officers slidin tuh de side tuh avoid bullets an doin backward flips before kickin de gun out de criminal hand.

Ah like he response when Fazeer ask him eef de TTPS have ah policy tuh shoot tuh kill. Diplomatic Gary is not. No poleece leader go tell yuh yes, dat is dey policy. Gary eh just say yes, he explain why.

Me?

I might ah be undiplomatic in mih own way askin Fazeer tuh stop askin fuckerydotish questions.

It had more examples ah tings he say dat ah agree wid anudder 101 percent buh is someting far more subtle dat he address dat had mih sayin yes, de man know what he torkin about: He understand de mindsets it have out dey in Triniland.

Fuh de longest while it seem tuh me de daily newspapers have ah anti poleece bias, Ah agenda even? Dey doh just report de facts when de poleece shoot an kill somebody, dey does go outside de lines an color dem. Just like chirren, dey colorin does be messy. But chile-like minds at play does only be cute in chirren.

So when Gary allude tuh dat bias, yes, dat was me screamin, “yes!, yes!”.

Me eh even tryin tuh be objective in any ah dis cause is long time now people should ah stop buryin dey head in de sand. Crime an criminality rulin fuh too many years.

Take when Fazeer suggest tuh Gary he gun tork directed at said criminals go just get dem more vex. How I go disagree wid Gary when he reply dat de country been bleedin fuh years now an ah new approach needed tuh stop it. Eef dat mean bleedin (it already happenin), tuh heal, so be it. No more plaster orn de wound.

Me eh know eef Fazeer was playin devil’s advocate in he questions. I watch him before an de man good. My question have more tuh do wid eef he was torkin for de many people wid dem views. Gary wasn’t buyin none ah it. He rejected de misguided idea dat appeasin criminals go ensure public safety. Exactly where in de world dat does wuk was ah common question he tossed back at Fazeer.

Like when Fazeer suggest ah poleece officer havin he knee in de neck of one ah dem protestin UWI students recently was ah act ah brutality, Gary was correct in askin him which part ah de world, (except Triniland being de implication), can you disobey de poleece wid impunity an bawl when yuh get taken tuh de grong an arrested.

Okay, dat is ah very bad example by me. One place dat does happen all de time is de US. People does even make up claims about poleece brutality.

How Gary put it? Someting like what planet de people who doh like dat livin orn? Yeah someting like dat he say. Buh is Gary an he cyar always stop when he make ah point.

He make it clear he not offerin no protection tuh law-breakin poleece. Dat include anyone ah de officers involved in killin five young men in Laventille recently.

However, tuh show what he up against, while two of de five was teenagers, one only 15, it had ah older one brandishin serious weapons of war on social media. Yet, after de five get shot dead, ah relative describe all ah dem as “chirren”.

Gary go get he biggest push back from officers involved in criminal activity an doh want de culture changed.

Take SRPs.

De press full wid stories ah dem an rong doin. Not dat de regular poleece is slouches. Is what ah read recently, 600 before de courts orn various matters? Gary say dey cyar be waitin fuh dey day in court while collectin taxpayer funded salary. He claim he could an go fire dem.

I hope I eh naïve just because ah hearin tings I agree wid. Dat naivety doh extend into believin changin bad behavior dat been arong fuh donkey years go be easy. Not when it accepted.

Eef Gary cyar win dat internal fight he go never have ah united TTPS protectin an servin. Dat is ah major reason I reject Gary as CoP in de beginning. Nobody steeped in current poleece culture could change dat engrained behavior.

It still early.

He could fall flat orn he face. Remember de larse person tuh hold de official title ah CoP get run back tuh he Canadian home wid he sidekick?

Gary dey fuh what, five years? T&T doh have five years tuh waste orn anybody who is ah good talker.

Leh we hope he bravado an braggadocios nature is exactly what de doctor would order fuh de patient.

Nah let mih correct dat.

Leh mih hope he go back up all dat tork wid action. Action dat go rid de country ah criminals, both inside an outside de TTPS.

He better not be ah example of what somebody was referrin tuh but, in ah next context, when dey insist, “Trinis does only like tuh tork oui.”