Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator
AN INDEPENDENT commission to investigate police killings and other abuses by members of the security forces might not meet public expectation, as the body will be forced to draw on resources from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to probe its own members.
The legislation to introduce the investigative body was one of the Government's first 100-day policy pledges to address public outcry about extrajudicial killings.
Serious flaw
A joint select committee, examining the draft legislation at Gordon House Wednesday, highlighted a serious flaw in the proposed law. They concluded that the legislation would maintain the status quo - police investigating police.
The commission will replace the current Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA), which investigates its colleagues. However, the perception is that the PPCA does not enjoy full public confidence in its impartiality in investigations.
Opposition Senator K.D. Knight argued that Jamaicans were given the impression that a commission, independent of the police force, would conduct investigations involving police excesses.
He said Section 18 of the bill explained that the commission alone had jurisdiction to investigate complaints by members of the public against the police and other state agencies with police powers.
The senior parliamentarian said it was not possible for the commission to recruit sufficient non-police investigators in the foreseeable future to carry out its work.
Inadequate resources
Legal counsel for the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights, Nancy Anderson, who made a presentation to the committee, agreed with Knight's position, warning against using members of the JCF to carry out investigations on behalf of the commission.
Chairperson of the committee, Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne, acknowledged that the commission would be faced with the problem of inadequate human resources to establish the proposed five regional offices. She conceded that public expectation concerning the work of the commission would not be met.
Last year, fatal police shootings totalled 272.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
