Please allow me to offer a tribute to one who is deserving of such: St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Officer Calvin Glasgow, also known as ‘Gold Teeth’, for his contribution. Officer Glasgow was a well-presented police officer who took pride in his personal appearance.
Many police officers did not agree with Gold Teeth’s style of policing, and a larger cross-section of the community dreaded an encounter with Gold Teeth, because such may result in a notice of intended prosecution and later an appointment with the court as a defendant in a case. Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow was known as the police officer who didn’t give breaks. As a result, Officer Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow had many confrontations with elected officials. There were occasions, when Gold Teeth had to report to the commissioner of police, to address reports made against him by some of these simpleton politicians.
Another thing that is admirable about Gold Teeth is, of all the complaints and confrontations he had during his career, there was never an allegation of dishonesty or corruption levied against him. As a matter of fact, when the Ralph Gonsalves administration tried to punish Gold Teeth for doing his job, by transferring him to the Licensing Department -- trying to create a white elephant in a pink room syndrome -- Gold Teeth became busy and useful at the licensing department, which resulted in Gold Teeth uncovering a corruption ring. This led to his retransfer to the streets. The Gonsalves administration became afraid that Gold Teeth’s probing would expose their dirty dealings.
There were only a few people, who understood why Gold Teeth was so strict and why he was so thorough and diligent in the execution of his duties. Many people, including some police officers, thought that Gold Teeth was just being spiteful and malicious. I will share with you something most people, do not know about Gold Teeth that may put into perspective why he took his duties so seriously.
I cannot remember the exact date, but it was more than 20-plus years ago, it was a Saturday afternoon about 1:30 pm I was walking home from church. On reaching the vicinity of the Coreas Trading Ltd on Back Street, I saw a crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk, and they (the crowd) were shouting at Gold Teeth, words such as “leave the man alone, let him enjoy himself”, while referring to the officer as “power hungry” and “show off”. This was before Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow had earned his reputation that immortalized him in at least three calypsos and he became the nightmare that he was to traffic violators, especially minibus operators.
The person the onlookers wanted Officer Glasgow to leave alone was Michael “Scooper” Revierre of Old Montrose. It was understandable why the public came out in support of Scooper against the police. Scooper was one of the friendliest, down to earth people I have ever met. In my opinion, Scooper was the male version of the delightful, beloved local and regional beauty queen: Donna Young. His beloved personality was magnified because he was also a local daredevil who was fearless on the motorcycle. He was willing to try anything that came to his mind and anything that was suggested on his motorcycle. This earned his a folk hero status especially within the biking community, reaching heights like people like OB and Dennis Murray – who as children, me and my friends at school and in the neighborhood would argue for the rights to be called Dennis Murray while we played. The people loved Scooper and like the Fonzie in happy days, he had no hang up, just a cool fellow, from a good family.
I can remember after school spending time with my then best friend the now deceased Winston Franklyn aka “Number 10” repairing tyres at the St Vincent Automotive Corporation gas station, which was located on Bentic Square. Scooper would come to the gas station to refill his tank. Although he was just a bit older than us, he would take the time to answer any question we had about his 1,000 cc Kawasaki Ninja motor bike. He will even perform tricks for us on request, because that was the kind of guy he was; a people person. We were not friends, but from his willingness and friendly interactions with us, we sure felt like we were Scooper’s friend.
I am sure Gold Teeth was also an admirer of Scooper, but he was doing his sworn duty to protect and to serve. So Officer Glasgow warned Scooper and he went on his way, tearing up the street, in his usual style, with no disrespect to Officer Glasgow. It is important to say that, although Scooper was a daredevil, he was new to this bike and its speed capacity; in hindsight, we can all agree that the road of Kingstown was not the safest road to open up the full speed of such a bike on. But Michael “Scooper” Revierre had done this safely hundreds of times.
I had just arrived at home, when I heard the powerful bark of the Ninja Kawasaki 1000 motor bike in motion. The sound came from the Bentic Square, where Scooper normally opened up on his motorcycle. The sound of the motorcycle was very distinct because this was the only Ninja and the most powerful motorcycle on the island. I could remember smiling and saying to myself: Scooper is tearing it up again. Then suddenly, I heard an impact. I did not worry because it was Scooper riding the motorcycle. In seconds the news reached that Scooper had crashed into a car and his was badly hurt. Like many Vincentians who were in the vicinity, I ran from home to the scene of the accident, hoping only for the best outcome; however, later I learned that Michael ‘Scooper’ Revierre died from the injuries he sustained from the accident.
Unfortunately, Gold Teeth had to attend the scene on duty. I saw Officer Glasgow at the scene, trying his best to hide his emotions. I am sure that he wished he had done something that could have saved this great young man’s life. Later Scooper’s mother, being the graceful woman she was, tried to put Gold Teeth at ease by making him promise he would never let what had happened to her son happen again. In my opinion, this was what triggered Glasgow into becoming the kind of stern, no nonsense police officer he became. Striving for excellence in policing.
So when members of the public, especially Andrew Bardu, were fighting Gold Teeth while he executed his duty, Gold Teeth was literally fighting with him to save his life and the life of his passengers, when the passengers in the minibus cursed-out Glasgow for interrupting their journey to their homes, Officer Gold Teeth was taking abuse from his abusers in order to ensure they arrived home safely.
This was one of the reasons, whether I was on duty driving the police vehicle or on the street instructing a student driver trying to earn an extra dollar, and Glasgow stopped a minibus, I would pull over or request the student driver to pull aside just in case he needed my help.
So now Gold Teeth has come to the end of his police career. I say congratulations to Calvin Glasgow for a job well done.
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