Popcaan Vs Police Saga Continues: Cops Deny Targeting The Dancehall Star, Eyewitness Comes Forward
Popcaan’s run-in on Sunday with a female Inspector of Police in St. Thomas, who slapped him with breaches of Jamaica’s Road Traffic Act, remains the “talk of the town”, with the incident now being made the subject of a stinging Jamaica Observer editorial and one eyewitness coming forward to defend the Dancehall superstar.
On Sunday afternoon the Numbers Don’t Lie artist was prosecuted for, among other things, driving an unlicensed motor vehicle, driving without insurance or fitness, having no fixed registration plate, driving without a helmet, and careless driving. A day later, he complained on Twitter that he was being targeted by the St. Thomas police with “every move I make” and said that he was thinking of withdrawing his annual Unruly Fest concert as a result.
However, his assertions of being a police target have been rubbished by Commanding Officer for the parish, Superintendent Allison Byfield. According to the STAR, she said police had been receiving reports that “a gentleman by the name of Popcaan” was staging river parties in the Sunning Hill area and the attendees would sprint off into bushes whenever they saw the police approaching.
Byfield added that along with contravening the law on Sunday, Popcaan had been warned the week before about hosting events in contravention of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) after he was spotted at the same site in the company of other persons. Under the DRMA, there is a ban on all public events. Public beaches and rivers are also to remain closed until May 4.
She said that instead of prosecuting him for breaching the DRMA, the 32-year-old Bath native, was warned and asked to pack up and leave.
“The police could have charged him then but they did not, so I don’t think he’s being targeted. In fact, the inspector who prosecuted him on Sunday didn’t know who he was at the time, and even if she did, this is a very professional inspector – a principled person,” the Superintendent said.
Byfield contended that nobody is above the law, and that “everyone travelling through the parish must have a vehicle that is properly regulated and deemed fit for the road.” The Superintendent said on the day Popcaan was prosecuted, the police received reports that a river party was being held in Sunning Hill, and ‘acting upon intelligence”, went to the area where they intercepted a fleet of vehicles with the entertainer in the midst on a bike.
“A male figure on the bike, when the inspector asked him ‘Where is the documents for the bike?’ he told the inspector ‘yuh can tek it’. So the police asked him for his driver’s licence. He said he doesn’t have one and she asked him for it again, he said he doesn’t have it. Hence, summons were prepared and served on him for breaches of the Road Traffic Act,” she told The Star.
Observer’s Editorial
Popcaan’s statement that he would withdraw his Unruly Fest from St. Thomas, is also being questioned by The Jamaica Observer newspaper. The paper stopped short of describing his comments as puerile in its editorial today, noting that the reason he gave appeared frivolous, and they would really love to hear from Popcaan what is his “real motivation for wanting to give up his brainchild”.
The editorial, which was titled Why don’t we just hand over Jamaica to Popcaan and his ilk?, said Popcaan made an empty threat “to end his aptly named ‘Unruly Fest’ concert, complaining bitterly that he is being harassed by the St Thomas police”.
According to the newspaper, without greater clarification, “we can only assume that he considers himself above the law and ought not to be stopped by the police carrying out their duties”.
“So what terrible act of oppression and persecution could have caused the entertainer to want to abandon the annually held concert into which he has invested so much time, resources, and effort?” the Observer stated.
The editorial also said “there is a history of entertainers behaving as if they are little gods who are untouchable and objecting strenuously to being held to account by law enforcers” and it hopes “Mr Sutherland is not one of them”.
“We can only draw from the failure of Popcaan to contest the charges on Twitter that the police’s account is factual. But even assuming that the lawmen made up the charges against him — which should come out in the trial — that could hardly be a reason to give up on an event which is said to be a boost to the economic activity of the parish of his birth,” the Observer added.
St. Thomas Resident Defends ‘Poppi’
St. Thomas native Allana Davis, who said she was present at the time of Popcaan’s apprehension, has sought to defend the Party Shot artist, claiming that the St. Thomas police appear to have “a personal ‘anti-Poppi’ or even ‘anti-dancehall’ mandate”.
According to her, if she had not “been there myself, I would have bought into the manufactured argument that Popcaan just ‘unruly now’.
She described Popcaan’s situation as being a “big sting operation” and an act of persecution on a “young man in his community, on a dirt road… riding a dirt bike on a dirt track”, one “whose enduring passion has been to develop his underdeveloped parish”.
Davis also rebuked the Jamaica Constabulary Force for its poor community policing practices and lack of engagement of the young men in the Bath area, and expressed dismay at how the police quickly sent, to national media outlets, details of the encounter.
“The Bath police did not take the time to positively impact the group of young men they met during their “operation persecute Popcaan” on Sunday…No sign of community policing,” she argued.
She also highlighted Popcaan’s community development initiatives, back-to-school treats for students, cleaning and upgrading of the river in his community for eco-tourism, and cutting roads and fixing trail routes in St Thomas at his own expense.
She contended that instead of pumping money into community development doing this, the Vanquish artiste “while he could have relocated to Canada or Europe and continue to build on the mega music fame he has been generating or invested his energies and money in a Kingston community or hide away in one of his mansions in upper St Andrew or elsewhere.
“But, in turn, the police in the parish, hungry for fame, use every opportunity to kill his passion for his community, driving him and his investment further away from St Thomas. If a man cannot find peace in his home, he may just have to find a new home, and so too will his investments,” Davis said.