And as we reported, yesterday, five young men - four of whom were minors - were sent to court after being arrested for assembling in a group of three or more. The judge dismissed the charges, calling it "entrapment" since the young men didn't realize they had been committing a crime. She also scolded police for
Today Dr Rosado explained why police were on high alert in that area.
Dr Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police
"First of all, the police department do acknowledge and recognize the decision of the court. And we do affirm our commitment to upholding the rule of law. But I must say that my police officers, they were acting in good faith in accordance with the state of emergency regulation."
"The gathering that was happening when those individuals were detained was in an area of high risk and the police intervention at the time was based on credible information to protect those individuals. Hence the reason I believe that they acted in good faith. But moving forward, it does require that we look at alternative measures to be able to guide those at risk youth from being harmed."
Reporter
"I've got to follow up with that. You say protection, so did the police receive information that these persons may have been targets or some, you know..."
Dr Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police
"The state of emergency regulation allow us to, there are certain regulations that are put in place for public safety. And whenever those regulations are violated, all the police were doing, they were just basically in good faith enforcing the regulation. But like I said, in moving forward, it does require that we look at alternative measures in order for us to be able to deal with at risk youth."
