Monday's main STAR story about the policeman who has alleged that he was assaulted by Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) members is very striking.

This is not just because he claims his hand was broken, that he was hit with a rifle butt and slapped, but also his reaction.

As he told THE STAR, "While all a dis a gwaan mi si dung pon mi gun and a think if mi fi rise it eno ... mi kno seh di three a wi woulda dead."

If a policeman can think this way, how does a civilian feel when he or she meets upon the very strong arm of the law in circumstances which are less than what is prescribed as the correct treatment of the public by police officers?

Time and again, through this newspaper, and other media, incidents of alleged police abuse surface, with the injured party determined to report it to the Complaints Authority, and afterwards it tends to simply fade away without any favourable resolution.

We can only hope that this time around, as a policeman is involved, the matter will be pursued and the allegations investigated thoroughly with some definite conclusion.

With the rank and file of the police force increasingly made up of youngsters fresh out of school, we note the injured policeman's deepest injury - not to his body, but to his pride.

And we ask again. If a lawman can feel this way, how does a civilian who has allegedly been 'bwayed up' by a 'bway' feels?