Editorial: A mother's tears, a nation under siege

A weeping Rosemarie John said goodbye to her son Wednesday. Elton John, 27, was a police officer murdered by a gunman. Today his children face a new reality; they have to live their lives without a father.

And his killer? Still free, roaming our streets.

Last Saturday PC John went to a fruit stall at the Arima market to buy fruits and saw a man urinating on one of the empty vegetable stalls. John warned the man about his action.

That was enough for the killer to pull out a gun and shoot the policeman twice in his chest. John died later in hospital.

John will get a posthumous national award.

At his funeral Wednesday, Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert moured the slain policeman as a hero.

“Police officers are a special breed of people and not everyday a police officer is born. It is a call that comes from within and Elton accepted the call. Police Constable Elton John understood that this job comes with great responsibility. I salute you.

"He was a police officer who died in the line of duty, a police officer who was never off duty and who understood what it meant to protect and serve with pride. He showed zero tolerance to crime,” Philbert said.

“With a keen sense of observation, respect, integrity and discipline, PC John did what he had to do and unfortunately paid with his life...We are experiencing a profound loss of a child, husband, friend, father", Philbert said.

He pledged that police officers will continue the fight against crime.

"We will wipe our tears, put on our uniform, lace up our boots, kiss our families and go into the communities to do what must be done. We would not be deterred but continue to fight crime and violence.

"The fight is not for the faint-hearted and Elton was not faint-hearted. It is a fight of good against evil. And despite what may be in front of you, despite circumstances, good always prevails over evil,” Philbert said.

As the father of a young man who serves as a police officer in the Canadian City of Halifax, Nova Scotia, I share Rosemary's grief and pay tribute to police officers everywhere. I live in fear of experiencing her nightmare.

And I am reminded by what my son, Amit, said at his graduation.

He urged his colleagues to always be "vigilant and avoid indifference because too often evil has taken root because of the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most...

"We have the power to make decisions that affect lives. We must never abuse this. But above all, we must always remember that we are police officers... And we DO WHAT IS RIGHT… BECAUSE IT IS RIGHT!"

Read the story: Feature: "We do what is right, because it is right"

Today on behalf of our nation and on behalf of police officers everywhere I call on the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago to do whatever it takes to end the epidemic of crime that is a cancer destroying the very soul of our country.

And we urge them to hunt down PC John's killer - and every other killer - and make sure justice is served.

Jai Parasram