Rudd Gonzales was one of several patrons who came in for some rough treatment at the hands of members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service at last Sunday’s Panorama semi finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah, in Port of Spain.

The 41-year-old barber tells Express Online that he was violently pushed by an officer when he attempted to protect his wife from a situation that began to brew on their way to the Greens.

“When my wife and I arrived at the entrance to the North Stand, a melee had already begun as scores of people had converged on the gate trying to get in.

“Patrons with bands were allowed to go through freely by the police while those without were sent to a second entrance where they filtered through one at a time, after having their bands placed on their hands by an attendant.

Gonzales says that as patrons of the Caribbean Airways All-inclusive Panorama lime they began making their way to the Greens because for reasons unknown, drinks were in the North Stand while food was on the Greens.

He adds that one officer in particular lacked patience and did not appear to be well trained.

 “He was a giant of a man, about six-foot three inches tall and definitely over two hundred pounds, while my wife, in comparison, is a petite woman around four-foot eleven inches.

“Our back was towards him and similarly, his towards ours,” he continues, “but apparently he felt threatened by the number of people coming his way so he began using his rump (rear end) to bump people away.

“On seeing this I got between him and my wife as a defensive measure, only as a means of protecting her. He then turned around and used the palm of his hands to push me in the chest on three occasions, shouting don’t push me, don’t push me.”

Gonzales says the only thing that prevented him from falling was the close proximity of the crowd behind him.

“I was taken aback by his aggressive behaviour because neither my wife nor I was within touching distance of him. So I stepped back and did not retaliate.

“Meanwhile, some of his colleagues were telling him to cool down because they probably felt he was being a bit harsh in the manner he reacted.”

Gonzales says that after the incident he and his wife proceeded to the Greens and tried to put it behind them, adding that it all happened because of poor planning.

 “It was all unnecessary because the Greens is really a big area and if the crowd was getting too big they should have diverted patrons to the area behind the North Stand.

“There’s no need for a fence to separate the areas. In the past it was behind the North Stands and patrons had easy thoroughfare.

“Usually it’s the patrons in the North Stand who would want to go to the Greens, not the other way around.”

Gonzales says that every single North Stand patron had access to the Greens while the reverse did not apply, which contributed to the overcrowding experienced on the day.

He believes the Savannah is large enough to accommodate any crowd, and should therefore be appropriately fenced.

 “There’s a need for professionals to design it in such a manner to accommodate any crowd anticipated, as well as the need to train police officers to deal with situations such as what occurred at Panorama.”

Gonzales says the situation was not a hostile or volatile one, but that poor crowd management techniques and a lack of foresight by the organisers led to the end result.

“It’s unfortunate that the police reacted in the manner they did. It’s also unfortunate that the Police Commissioner stated that he supports the actions taken by his officers without reviewing the situation to see whether the level of force used was warranted.

“Initially, we were very upset because the officer went above and beyond what was required. He also tried to restrict movement which was uncalled for because we were not trying to storm,” Gonzales ends, “but just access the services we paid for.”

donstan.bonn@trinidadexpress.com