LARGE SEGMENTS of the Jamaican society remain sceptical that the Jamaica Constabulary Force has demonstrated sufficient professional detachment to investigate allegations and charges of corruption and criminality against its own members. This scepticism has remained despite the appointment of a Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) and an Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to respond to citizens' complaints.
If the JCF is to make any progress in winning back public confidence then the famous dictum that justice must not only be done but must clearly and manifestly be seen to be done, must be the standard by which it operates. Some recent incidents underscore how much ground remains to be covered.
A large section of the public is no doubt astonished that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has found no evidence to hold anyone criminally responsible for the death of Janice Allen. But astonishment turns to anger with the news that the ruling was made as far back as June last year and has only now been released because The Gleaner raised questions. The circumstances of Allen's death implicates a bungled police investigation at best. Crucial evidence was destroyed in a fire at the Denham Town Police Station and the court, having been erroneously informed that the investigating policeman was off the island, had no choice but to dismiss the case against the policemen alleged to have shot Allen.
The cynic might be forgiven for believing that this smacks of a cover-up.
The public's apprehension about how the police force investigates its own is further strengthened by the mysterious disappearance of two young men, Kemar Walters and Oliver Duncan, who persons claiming to be witnesses attest were hustled away from a shopping centre by policemen and have not been seen since. The incident took place on December 23 last year and the investigation seems to be progressing at a snail's pace. No evidence is forthcoming that the young men were officially arrested and offered the customary telephone calls to advise their families of their predicament. It has been reported that two policemen have been taken off front line duty while the investigation is being conducted. On the face of it, this is a concession that policemen were involved in what must surely be irregular behaviour.
As in the Allen case the public is confronted by a wall of silence and are in the dark about the fate of two Jamaican citizens whose families have every right to know what is going on. If we are not living in a police state, some answers must be forthcoming and fast, whether or not policemen are involved in the disappearances and under what circumstances.
We note too that a probe was launched a few weeks ago into the reported shoot-out between two sets of policemen in St. Mary. Again, the public has been left in the dark about the state of those investigations.
While we do not expect the police to solve crimes including those involving their own members within a matter of hours as happens in the movies, the public can hardly be expected to give full backing to the crime-fighting efforts of the security forces when they are treated with scant regard.
It is imperative that the Government through the National Security Ministry re-examines the protocol of the police investigating its members and how and when the public is informed of developments. An agency independent of the police force altogether may be one way to go, although given the prevailing culture, such an agency would probably be stonewalled in its efforts. If we fail to deal aggressively with what obtains now however, we will just be undermining the commitment to maintaining law, order and justice which is expressed every so often.
