Unwarranted use of force

This is to express my horror and dismay at the unwarranted use of brute force against my friend and neighbor by an alleged member of the police department in Tanapag last Friday. Someone had parked in the small parking lot in front of her small store and crossed the street to go to church. She followed, and asked him not to block the parking lot—it was needed for her customers. An innocent, and proper, request.

Instead of obliging my friend, the driver of the car pushed her. It is not clear to me by whom—the driver of the car or the alleged policeman who came up and showed her his badge, and in what order the next events occurred. But one or the other twisted her arm behind her back, forcefully pushed her against the body of the car with both hands, and dragged my friend back across the street to the store front. She told me she was initially relieved to see the police badge, sure that he would help her. But, she said, he gave her no chance to explain.

When they tried to force her into the car that had parked in front of her store, she refused, and started screaming. The son, who had heard the screams, called 911, and fortunately another policemen then arrived and led her away from the two men and into the store.

Granted my friend does not speak fluent English. She is Chinese. Granted that neither she nor her husband, who operate the store, are “locals.” But does that justify the brutal treatment she received? Does this make it OK to treat an innocent 50-year-old woman like a criminal? Does it allow a member of the Department of Public Safety to use excessive force for no reason?

I don’t think so.

My friend Sara and her husband Abraham have lived in my village for many years. They were respected members of a university faculty in China for more than 20 years before they came to Saipan, but they gave up their positions so that they could earn enough money to enable their son to attend college on U.S. soil. They operate a small store in my village, in which they also live. They work hard—from early morning to late at night—just the two of them—to keep the store open long hours and serving the neighborhood seven days a week. They have not had an easy time of it—they do not understand local island ways, and the locals do not understand theirs. They have been harassed by people in the neighborhood on more than one occasion. But they’ve never harmed anyone. They are peaceful and quiet. And they provide convenient access to an unbelievable variety of goodies in their “mom-and-pop” style store.

I would hope that at least the policeman who showed my friend his badge—the one who claimed he was protecting the governor—and perhaps even the governor himself, and a DPS official as well—make a formal apology to Sara. That is the least they could do to compensate her for her bruises, for the assault on her dignity, for the outrageous attack on her person. Such police brutality has no place here.

Ruth L. Tighe
Tanapag Village