There was much rejoicing downtown Kingston this week when some vendors read in THE STAR newspaper that a woman was fined for exposing herself in public.

"Come read this," one woman said as she laughed and shouted, "full time the police take action against these out-of-order women and men."

One of the vendors, who was sitting next to her, came closer to see what she was reading.

"See it here, the woman was fined for exposing her panties in public," she remarked.

The other woman borrowed the newspaper to read in details what had taken place.

After reading for a few seconds, she remarked "then it was on a motorcycle she was riding and exposing herself to the public".

fined $3,000

A man who was selling melons nearby peeped over the woman's shoulder to see what she was reading.

"She is a lucky woman that she was fined only $3,000 or ten days, the fine should have been ten times that amount to teach others a lesson," he said.

A discussion then ensued amongst the three vendors as they bemoaned the fact that too many of the young people in the society were not dressing properly.

"A lot of young men no longer wear their trousers at the waist and are always showing their underpants," the melon vendor said.

Commenting further, he said, "I have three sons and two daughters and I tell them that the day I see them dressing and showing their underwear, they will just have to leave my house."

One of the women said she was not aware that the police could arrest them for not dressing properly and wondered why the police were not locking up more people.

"To tell you the truth, the many times I see them pass me exposing themselves, I did not know the police had the power to arrest them," she said.

"Well, if I knew the policeman who arrested the woman and brought her before the court, I personally would have to congratulate him," she added.

She hoped that other policemen would take the situation seriously and start making more arrests.

It is true that there are many persons who wear clothes which allow for indecent exposure which is an offence. There have been many cases over the years in which persons have been fined for indecent exposure.