And if that standard was enforced yesterday evening in Red Bank village - a whole lotta people would have been arrested. The UDP candidate for Stann Creek West, Ivan Williams and his supporters staged an impromptu motorcade as they distributed party pantry supplies.
But the show of political muscle seems to have rankled PUP supporters and - next thing you know - there was a fight, and then a machete, and then gunshots. Cherisse Halsall reports:
There was an uproar in Red Bank village on Sunday evening. It happened as a modest in size UDP motorcade passed through the the village.
PUP hecklers on the side of the road started doing their thing, and allegedly snatched a UDP flag in their zeal. That's when political passions flared as UDP's rushed to get back the flag. The Commissioner told us what concerns him about the incident:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"When I saw that there were a number of vehicles in a motorcade and these vehicles, for the most part, were overcrowded and those persons in the vehicles were not wearing any masks for the most part and when they arrived at a certain location I saw that the motorcade came to a halt and some people alighted some of the vehicles came to a halt and some people alighted some of the vehicles and went to a yard where some other persons were and there was a scuffle and shots were fired."
And while the UDP crowd retreated with their tattered flag one man was seen to be wielding a machete.
Then, all too suddenly a gunman appeared and shots were heard. The gunfire came from an off-duty officer who jumped in to break up the fight.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Yes, there was an off duty officer there and I have spoken to Mr. Zuniga with respect to that and he is saying that the off duty officer was not in the motorcade but rather he was behind when he saw what took place and he acted. Well, I want to be convinced because from my observation even when the motorcade took off the vehicle that the off duty policeman was in took off behind the motorcade so I have asked Mr. Zuniga to appoint an independent investigator separate from the officer who was there to investigate the matter so that we can get to the bottom of what exactly transpired."
And while the entire incident was caught on camera there are many variables to the situation that are not yet fully understood.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"He is saying yes he is not disputing that he fired shots and we have to at the end of the day be reasonable because prior to the shots being fired we saw machetes being wielded and he is saying that it was because of the machetes being wielded that he had to fire shots to disrupt what was about to happen. So we have to be fair and look at what actually transpired objectively, what would have happened had he not done so maybe we'd be dealing with some fatalities."
It's the kind of thing that can happen anywhere especially coming up to nomination day. But, the Commissioner thinks the supporters need to follow the example of their potential leaders.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Rodwell Ferguson and Ivan Williams are not fighting so why should their supporters be fighting. I'm sure if Ivan and Rodwell would meet each other they would buck or shake hands and talk. So why must the little political man down there be the ones to be fighting? It makes no sense at all."
"When we have people who are behaving recklessly and putting the lives of others at risk then we must take appropriate action to let them get the message. So that is all I have to say about that for now and by the end of the day, you would know who all has been charged."
