Witter

Public Defender Earl Witter said the current upsurge in crime and violence is pressuring the judicial system and state agencies like his office.

"It makes our job just more difficult," Witter said while addressing a meeting of the Rotary Club of Kingston at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, yesterday.

"No one can operate to our optimum level of efficiency in the face of all this mayhem".

Blunder

According to the public defender, given the current crime situation, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force might blunder in their duties.

"In the discharge of their functions, the police are required to act lawfully and you cannot expect that they may not blunder, being humans themselves, if they are constantly faced with these challenges," he said.

More cops investigated

Witter said the atmosphere generated by the crime situation meant that his office could be forced to investigate more cases where the police are accused of infringing the rights of citizens.

The public defender noted, too, that his office was required to defend people who were alleged to be perpetrators of criminal acts.

He pleaded for criminals to stop the killings.

"For God sake stop it!" said Witter, "We can't go on slaughtering ourselves in this way."

More than 660 persons have been murdered in five months. Five policemen have been shot dead since January.