MANDEVILLE, Manchester - The Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) was yesterday investigating the circumstances surrounding the police shooting of a taxi driver in the vicinity of Spalding on the north Clarendon/north Manchester border on Monday afternoon.

The incident triggered roadblock demonstrations for several hours in sections of Spalding on Monday. The protests spilled over to Tuesday following another altercation between police personnel and a taxi driver yesterday morning.

Last night, Superintendent Martin Baylis, commanding officer for Manchester, said he had arranged a meeting between the police and taxi drivers in a bid to reduce tension and build "respect" between the parties.

"We need to sit down and thrash this thing out ... respect begets respect," Baylis told the Observer.

According to the Constabulary Communications Network, sometime between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Monday, police personnel on traffic duty in Spalding demanded that a taxi driver produce documents for the vehicle he was driving.
While insisting that he possessed the relevant documents but that they were not in the car at the time, the taxi driver allegedly resorted to expletives when pressed by a policeman.

The officer reportedly responded by attempting to arrest the taxi driver for foul and indecent language at which point an ice pick was allegedly brought into play. The CCN says the policeman reportedly fired one shot which hit the taxi driver and he was taken to hospital in "stable" condition.

Reports from Spalding yesterday said the incident sparked roadblock demonstrations which lasted for five-and-a-half hours on Monday evening. Police reinforcements were rushed to Spalding to help restore calm.

There was more trouble yesterday morning after another altercation between a policeman and a taxi driver. More road blocks followed for an hour and a half before the tension was eased and the blockages cleared, following a visit to the area by Baylis.

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