Giving police a bad name

ON Friday, I was called by a couple of guys at 4-Mile, in Port Moresby, calling for help to save a guy who was lying on the ground with bandaged head wounds.
They said he had collapsed on the way back from Port Moresby General Hospital. We tried to wave down several vehicles but they did not stop.
A police task force vehicle drove by and I signaled for it to stop.
Two officers got off while the other parked the vehicle.
They checked for ID and returned to their vehicle.
I walked over and asked one of them if they could rush the guy to the hospital.
His response surprised me. He said without a close relative to confirm that he collapsed on his way back from the hospital, people will think that they killed him.
He was so adamant that this had been the case.
I am not sure whether he was right or not, but it struck me that they were hesitant to help save someone’s life because the public perception of their conduct was so negative.
He said they would call their operations centre to contact an ambulance.
We called the ambulance and gave directions.
The entire process took about an hour before two ambulances and some media guys arrived (do not know how the media responded as fast as the ambulance).
I walked away as the guy was stabilised and put on a stretcher.
I walked away realising that the three groups of people who were at the scene had constructed a perception that created distrust among themselves.

Michael