Police constable saves the night

So, the plan was to visit five places in St Elizabeth and overnight in Westmoreland to visit three more places the following day to get stories for The Gleaner’s Jamaica 60 monthly parish feature.

After leaving the other members of the Gleaner team at Whitehouse, Westmoreland, I headed towards Savanna-la-Mar, from where I was instructed to travel to a gas station at Good Hope. Upon arriving there, I did not see my contact, nor his vehicle. It was a few minutes after eight.

When I got my contact on the phone after two attempts, he told me he could not leave his yard as his vehicle would not move. My transportation and accommodation arrangements were now blown to Negril and beyond by the cool evening breeze. I was stranded, it seemed, and I had less than 10 per cent of power in my phone battery.

I went into the store at the gas station to get some power on my phone and told the cashier of my predicament.

She made some calls to see whether I could get accommodation for the night elsewhere.

She was not successful, but I remained very calm.

As I was about to look for an outlet to charge my phone battery, a young man appeared beside me. He identified himself as a police officer and told me he had overheard my story. We stepped outside, but I could not tell him exactly where I was going as I was expected to be picked up. When I connected again with my contact, I gave the officer my phone, and stepped away.

Based on what the officer was saying, my contact was giving him instructions on how to find him, as he was still not able to leave where he was – which was not walking distance to me.

It was at that moment I placed my finger on my panic button. Uncomfortable situations I do not like.

When the officer got off the phone, he was moving around to find a bottle in which to put gas to take to my contact, having been given some landmarks and directions.

I could not believe what I heard. How were we going to find them?

The important thing was for us to meet my contact at a certain spot.

We kept looking out making sure we did not miss him as we travelled on a seemingly unending road. We also delved into a getting-to-know-you conversation without realising it. All this time, I was still puzzled by why the cop had left his own business to make sure I was okay. I must have been the luckiest person in the world, I thought.

And as fate would have it, we saw my contact at the side of the road. He had walked in the pitch darkness to get to that point.

Upon realising that we still had some ground to cover before the final stop, the officer opted to take us there. This was about now 10 o’clock.

The road to the final stop was rougher and unpaved at points, but the officer’s heavy-duty vehicle was what the doctor ordered. And when we reached that final spot I could see the extent to which I would have been unreachable by my contact if the officer had not rescued me.

In the dim flash light, I could see we were surrounded by thick vegetation. The air was fresh, and the mild breeze was cool.

After chit-chatting briefly, the officer left, leaving me wondering about who in the name of my ancestors he is. Did they send him?

Constable Sanjae Mullings is a well-spoken, five-year veteran of the Jamaica Constabulary Force – one of the first officers to work in the first zone of special operations in Mount Salem, St James. He has also worked in West Kingston, St Catherine and is now stationed in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland.

Born and raised in the cool hills of Chudleigh, Manchester, he graduated from Manchester High School with 11 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects. He also has a City & Guilds certificate in automotive technology.

“My dream is to own and operate a complete car care and service centre,” he subsequently told The Gleaner.

Documenting his travels around “our beautiful island paradise” is also on his list of things to do.

I was moved to publicise this experience because I am grateful for Constable Mullings’ selfless intervention, and act of extreme kindness. He is the epitome of hope for this country as the night could have turned out much differently. He did not know who I am – and he did not ask. The same is true from my side, so there was mutual trust.

“I helped as it’s a part of me to help when needs be, and it sounded like you had an emergency as you were asking the cashier for the police station, so I tried to help, and found it’s just gonna take me most an hour,” he said, when asked why he decided to help a stranger. “Felt proud that I helped someone in need and the person was thankful.”

His efforts lasted more than the hour, and I will always remember the night when Constable Sanjae Mullings, an off-duty police officer, saved me from a possible major embarrassment, no question asked, the very same night when both of us saw something not from this realm at the very same time.

I wish him the very best in all his endeavours.

editorial@gleanerjm.com