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COP KILLINGS RISE - Repeat offenders causing concern
published: Sunday | June 18, 2006
Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
HUMAN RIGHTS activists have raised an alarm over a spike in the number of civilian killings by the police even as the incidence of murder is showing a downward trend for this year.
Additionally, the activists have pointed to a handful of policemen who are repeatedly involved in similar controversial incidents.
As many as 80 people have been killed by the police this year and last month alone there were 23 controversial police shootings.
Since 1999, police activities brought to the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) for investigation have increased by some 427 cases, moving from 89 in 1999 to over 516 last year. In total there have been over 2,400 incidents brought to the bureau for probe from within the Jamaica Constabulary Force with a complement of about 8,000.
123 OFFICERS CHARGED
Three-quarters of the incidents brought to the bureau for investigation are cases of police shootings that have left 1,066 people dead and 913 injured. But the BSI has only been able to clear up 55 per cent of these cases since 1999, resulting in charges being laid on about 123 officers in total. At least four of them have been convicted, while 43 have been acquitted of charges. Many more are still before the courts and at least 17 policemen cannot be found.
Human rights watchdogs Families Against State Terrorism (FAST) and Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) say the offences are too many and argue that only a minority of policemen are committing the offences, yet are not being brought to book.
"It is serious. We have spoken to the BSI to see what has been done to track offenders, track multiple offenders and really not much happens," says Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, head of FAST.
Executive director of JFJ, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, agrees that not enough is being done to deal with repeat offenders.
"Where are the sanctions? Where is the system (to punish) these policemen?" she asks. At present police who commit multiple offences are mainly transferred to another division or receive counselling after the BSI writes to the Police Officers' Association, the Police Federation, the police commissioner, the chaplain and the constabulary administration requesting that the officer's conduct be reviewed.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Granville Gause, concedes that there are policemen who are committing multiple offences, but contends that the volatile community in which the police operate creates the problem. He says there are many cases where policemen find themselves in questionable situations because they are put under constant pressure by the division and they are not given enough supervision.
"There are some officers that everything is reported to. Hence, he ends up in more confrontation than others and more questionable [circumstances]," he told The Sunday Gleaner. He believes this is the reason more cases are coming to the BSI for probe. "What is happening is not a police problem, but a social problem; you can't expect police to walk out there with closed hands," he argues.
LEGITIMATE FORCE
However, he adds that there are cases where policemen legitimately use force and are not found criminally liable. There are at least 300 incidents where the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) ruled that officers should not be charged for a criminal offence.
Meanwhile, according to Mrs. McCalla Sobers, policemen are not being convicted because of the slow judicial system, the corruption of evidence, and the lack of resources allotted to the BSI. She points out that of the four cops convicted over the period, none was convicted for shooting. She notes too that police involved in shootings are often the first on the scene and so have the opportunity to corrupt evidence.
"Once you contaminate the evidence it becomes very difficult to reconstruct the scene." As such, it creates a problem for the courts and eventually compromises the ruling, she explained.
ACP Gause acknowledges that there is difficulty with evidence and how it undermines the course of justice. This is often coupled with the limited resources of the BSI. He says there are 40 cases reported to the bureau every month for investigation, overwhelming its mere 23 investigators.
NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
"You have to take into account that we deal with the entire JCF and police (personnel under investigation) are not given any special privileges," he notes. He says often the bureau has to wait on reports from several other government agencies and other departments in the constabulary force before it can carry out any investigation.
Obtaining statements from witnesses makes the situation even more difficult because some statements are unreliable and many are afraid to come forward with information. This sometimes leads to a backlog of cases and situations that cause the DPP and the Coroner's Court to make rulings that seem impaired. As the number of cases grow the number of files sent off to the DPP have dropped steadily from 100 per cent in 1999 to 55 per cent in 2005.
ACP Gause says some are not sent off because they do not have the necessary information. There have been several cases where post-mortem examination reports in particular have not been received causing files not to be sent off to the DPP.
"You are going to have cases where not all the necessary information is there to send it off," he says.
published: Sunday | June 18, 2006
Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
HUMAN RIGHTS activists have raised an alarm over a spike in the number of civilian killings by the police even as the incidence of murder is showing a downward trend for this year.
Additionally, the activists have pointed to a handful of policemen who are repeatedly involved in similar controversial incidents.
As many as 80 people have been killed by the police this year and last month alone there were 23 controversial police shootings.
Since 1999, police activities brought to the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) for investigation have increased by some 427 cases, moving from 89 in 1999 to over 516 last year. In total there have been over 2,400 incidents brought to the bureau for probe from within the Jamaica Constabulary Force with a complement of about 8,000.
123 OFFICERS CHARGED
Three-quarters of the incidents brought to the bureau for investigation are cases of police shootings that have left 1,066 people dead and 913 injured. But the BSI has only been able to clear up 55 per cent of these cases since 1999, resulting in charges being laid on about 123 officers in total. At least four of them have been convicted, while 43 have been acquitted of charges. Many more are still before the courts and at least 17 policemen cannot be found.
Human rights watchdogs Families Against State Terrorism (FAST) and Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) say the offences are too many and argue that only a minority of policemen are committing the offences, yet are not being brought to book.
"It is serious. We have spoken to the BSI to see what has been done to track offenders, track multiple offenders and really not much happens," says Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, head of FAST.
Executive director of JFJ, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, agrees that not enough is being done to deal with repeat offenders.
"Where are the sanctions? Where is the system (to punish) these policemen?" she asks. At present police who commit multiple offences are mainly transferred to another division or receive counselling after the BSI writes to the Police Officers' Association, the Police Federation, the police commissioner, the chaplain and the constabulary administration requesting that the officer's conduct be reviewed.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Granville Gause, concedes that there are policemen who are committing multiple offences, but contends that the volatile community in which the police operate creates the problem. He says there are many cases where policemen find themselves in questionable situations because they are put under constant pressure by the division and they are not given enough supervision.
"There are some officers that everything is reported to. Hence, he ends up in more confrontation than others and more questionable [circumstances]," he told The Sunday Gleaner. He believes this is the reason more cases are coming to the BSI for probe. "What is happening is not a police problem, but a social problem; you can't expect police to walk out there with closed hands," he argues.
LEGITIMATE FORCE
However, he adds that there are cases where policemen legitimately use force and are not found criminally liable. There are at least 300 incidents where the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) ruled that officers should not be charged for a criminal offence.
Meanwhile, according to Mrs. McCalla Sobers, policemen are not being convicted because of the slow judicial system, the corruption of evidence, and the lack of resources allotted to the BSI. She points out that of the four cops convicted over the period, none was convicted for shooting. She notes too that police involved in shootings are often the first on the scene and so have the opportunity to corrupt evidence.
"Once you contaminate the evidence it becomes very difficult to reconstruct the scene." As such, it creates a problem for the courts and eventually compromises the ruling, she explained.
ACP Gause acknowledges that there is difficulty with evidence and how it undermines the course of justice. This is often coupled with the limited resources of the BSI. He says there are 40 cases reported to the bureau every month for investigation, overwhelming its mere 23 investigators.
NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
"You have to take into account that we deal with the entire JCF and police (personnel under investigation) are not given any special privileges," he notes. He says often the bureau has to wait on reports from several other government agencies and other departments in the constabulary force before it can carry out any investigation.
Obtaining statements from witnesses makes the situation even more difficult because some statements are unreliable and many are afraid to come forward with information. This sometimes leads to a backlog of cases and situations that cause the DPP and the Coroner's Court to make rulings that seem impaired. As the number of cases grow the number of files sent off to the DPP have dropped steadily from 100 per cent in 1999 to 55 per cent in 2005.
ACP Gause says some are not sent off because they do not have the necessary information. There have been several cases where post-mortem examination reports in particular have not been received causing files not to be sent off to the DPP.
"You are going to have cases where not all the necessary information is there to send it off," he says.
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