Burning dope with Police

Written by Cherelle Jackson
Monday, 31 March 2008
Recounting the assignment One of the perks of being a Samoan journalist is that you get to inhale some heavily kerosened dope with the Police once or twice a year. It’s a hilarious experience. Ok so it is not a perk, because the smell of the kerosene itself is enough to deplete the better half of anyone’s remaining brain cells. Newsline ran a front-page article on the burning of marijuana by Police earlier this week, so obviously Newsline was very much present when the bonfire was ignited by Police. The call came in the afternoon; a colleague was inviting me to come see the burning of marijuana by the Police. “You have to come,” she said. So of course one must oblige. “Where is it,” I asked. “Just come to the station, it’s at the back,” she said. So this reporter headed to the station, recorder and camera in hand. Upon arrival there it was easy to find where the goods were to be burnt as each officer who saw me just waved their arm in the direction of the Police headquarters backyard. As my first marijuana burning session with the Police, I am not going to lie, I was excited, and after seeing the rest of the media, it was clear that I was not the only one. Well, it is not often that we all turn up on time, and in full gear to an event, this was an exception, the whole media was there, on time, in fact, well in advance. We waited behind the station, anticipating the event. While there I looked around for where the burning would take place, surely Australia or New Zealand would have donated a snazzy little incinerator for the activity. I thought to myself, shame, because I would have loved to see the raw burning like the good old days. Situation Perhaps it was my lucky day, it seems it was still the ‘good old days’ as far as the marijuana burning was concerned. We were instructed to walk to the back part of the station, where there was enough plastic rubbish to make a dent in the ozone layer. But that wasn’t the reason we were there. After a few minutes of standing around, a plain clothes officer, a lady about mid thirties walked up with sack of full items. She was in a skirt and a nice blouse; she stood in front of us and deposited the contents of the sack into the ground. It was bags, bottles, envelopes and a few other concealed items of marijuana. After emptying the sack she was instructed to take the marijuana out of the packages they were found in. She proceeded to do so with her bare hands, another officer in plain clothes joined her, also using his bare hands. “Go ahead burn it,” the Assistant Commissioner said to them. Meanwhile about eight of us from the media were busy snapping, with some photographers mere inches away from the pile of confiscated marijuana. Before we knew it, a male officer was pouring kerosene onto the pile of dope and then he stepped back and threw a matchstick into the pile. What followed was hilarious. Because we were all so close to the heap of marijuana including the Assistant Commissioner himself, the flames from the kerosene induced fire caught us all off guard. There was a scatter of feet as each one stumbled backwards to save themselves from the heat of the flames. No there was no smell of dope, no one got high from it, but there was an overwhelming smell of burnt plastic and fumes from the contents of the fire. Risks Upon returning to the office and having a good laugh about the whole incident, there were some factors that did not deserve such humour. The officers were not wearing gloves when they were rearranging the contents of the fire. The officers were not wearing any safety gear. The fire was burnt out in the open, in a disorganized fashion, on the bare earth, no concrete, no protection from spreading. There was no proper place for the items to be burnt, no containment or even an incinerator. There was no firefighter or even a fire extinguisher in sight. The viewers were not warned about the strength of the fire, nor were we advised to step backwards. There were no smoke masks provided or other protective gear for those viewing the activity. Safety So although the activity itself signified an achievement for Police and a successful end to the investigative processes, it could have probably been conducted in a safer manner. As in every workplace there is a general duty to safety and care of officers and employees, which also extends out to those visiting the premises, this is something that was not practiced during the activity we participated in. According to basic fire fighting principles, the officers conducting such an activity should have been appropriately clothed with personal protective equipment (PPE). They should be wearing gloves, long sleeves and trousers of cotton material. To protect from the fumes, the officers should have been wearing breathing apparatus and those who were witnessing should have been given at minimum a dust mask. Basic fire fighting principles also suggest to maintain clearance from fires of the sort, but some suggest that the use of an incinerator is the best way of burning such items without putting others at risk. So on that note, the safety and care of our Police Officers should be of greater concern for those who dictate such activities. It would also be nice of course if the safety of the media was taken into account. On that note, good Sunday Samoa! Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed Can I be there the Next Time written by Bob Marley, April 01, 2008 Man, Can you invite me for the next burning event? I want to stand 2 inches away from the flames...What a job...Can I joing the police dept too...Man Only in Samoa...Praise the Lord!! what????? written by wildhamo, April 07, 2008 i can believe that they didint think for one second of what could happen...well at least nobody got hurt from it... Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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Recounting the assignment