By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter 
Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga (centre), addressing members of the media at a press briefing at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay yesterday. At left are deputy leader of the JLP Edmund Bartlett and Byron Balfour, publicist. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
OPPOSITION LEADER Edward Seaga yesterday charged that special units within the Police Force are being trained to disrupt the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) campaign.
At a news briefing in Montego Bay, Mr. Seaga said he was informed that about 1,500 officers had been hand-picked by a former People's National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament, and are now being recruited to target and intimidate JLP supporters. "There are groups of 60 and 70 men who are hand-picked by a former Member of Parliament for the People's National Party. He doesn't do the recruiting, he has no status for that, but once they are chosen they are recruited by a well-known political activist in the police force," Mr. Seaga said.
However, the police have described Mr. Seaga's allegations as 'absolute rubbish' and have called on politicians not to smear the image of the security forces.
Mr. Seaga said that the men are trained in six-week sessions under the guise of being an anti-terrorist squad. He notes that they are now in their second phase of training, after which they will operate from the police mobile reserve. The relation between these specially trained units and the Crime Management Unit led by Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams is not yet clear, Mr. Seaga said.
"They are to operate in the mobile reserve... where you also have the Adams unit operating and while we do not have sufficient information to say how the two are going to intertwine, we do know that this group, which numbers some 1,500 men, is to be used as a means of disrupting the JLP electoral programmes," he said.
Peoples National Party (PNP) officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, head of the Constabulary Communication Network, Superintendent James Forbes, said that Mr. Seaga's allegations was 'absolute rubbish'. He called on politicians not to tarnish the image of the security forces.
"We would wish that in their quest for power, they leave the security forces out of the political wrangling," Superintendent Forbes told The Gleaner yesterday. "We have tried to move the police away from political corruption... we have taken the force up to a level and we do not want to be dragged into the political morass."
While expressing confidence in the Electoral Advisory Committee's (EAC) capability to oversee the upcoming general elections, the Opposition Leader said he was wary of the security forces, and planned to take up the matter with Police Commissioner Francis Forbes.
Mr. Seaga further called for an independent police service commission that was not appointed by the Government, and stressed the JLP's commitment to reform the Police Force if the party is returned to power.
"There is a need for a police service commission that is non-political, that will deal with discipline, ...transfers and other things in respect of the operation of the Force as they ought to be dealt with, so that they get a clear signal that it is how they perform and not who they know," Mr. Seaga stressed.
He also promised that his Government will improve the condition of police stations, as well as to provide adequate equipment for the security forces.
