In an age when we ought to know better, the desire to attract clicks on their websites and to sell newspapers transcended decorum, and honest reporting. After all, the subject they were slandering were the whipping boys of the tiny Island Nation of 2.7 million. Who cares about defamation and slander when the police are their targets? So they ran with the blaring headlines for months and months. “DEATHSQUADCOPSCHARGEDWITHMURDERBYINDECOM“ There was no presumption of innocence, or worse yet who cared about whether they were innocent, there is no need to use the word “ALLEGED”.
Chucky Brown
And so it went for Detective Corporal Kevin Adams and Constable Jerome Whyte , tarred and feathered, slandered and defamed as state-sanctioned mercenaries of death. They were dragged through the merciless maze of the criminal justice system, forced to deal with the lies of their former colleague the infamous constable Collis Chucky Brown now doing life after cozying up to Terrence Williams and admitting to crimes believing he would get immunity. The officers had no ability to defend themselves. Anyone unfamiliar with the intricacies of this case would never guess that the two were officers of the law. For the supposed investigators at the over-zealous INDECOM who coerced witnesses to lie and fabricate evidence against these two officers, the end would justify the means. Convicting these officers was all that mattered. It did not matter that these were men who went out and placed their lives on the line to protect and defend. It did not matter that as former National Security Minister Dudley Thompson said in the 70’s, no angels died at Green Bay. INDECOM was out for blood and the complicit Media was a willing partner in the smear of the two officers. It did not matter that both officers maintained that their actions were justified as they carried out their duties that day.
The officers were charged with Murder of Anthony (Toby) Trought, the prosecution alleged that they killed the deceased in cold blood. The officers maintained they acted in self-defense. But such is Jamaica when the nation asks officers to step between mindless killers and the society, when they act they face the prospect of a murder charge even with the absence of [malice]a key component to prove murder. The two officers were not the only ones overzealously charged with murder. The zealot Terrence Williams and the imposter from Scotland yard Hamish Campbell who failed to investigate his colleagues properly when they were alleged to have framed a black man of murder charges had much larger designs. Thirteen other officers were caught up in the web of deceit, lies and false testimonies which was the heart of the prosecution’s case. Detective Corporal Adams was already exonerated in the killing of one accused last January. After being investigated and charged by the very same Terrence Williams and his cronies.
And so today, INDECOM’s web of lies, zealotry and anti-police venom was eviscerated in the Supreme Court, as a jury of seven Jamaicans returned a verdict of not guilty after deliberating for just over half an hour. This case is more than just INDECOM, an out of control agency paid by taxpayers. It is about the leaders of that Agency, their hatred for the police and the powers given to that agency which is used as an instrument of revenge. In the meantime, the officers were going through their ordeal the criminals in Clarendon have filled the space, killing anyone who dares to cross them, including shooting Police Officers. The Jury of seven conscientious Jamaicans saw through the web of deceit and lies and returned a resounding unanimous verdict for justice. All we can hope for is that that conscientiousness will mutate throughout the law-abiding population and spark a movement, but I will not hold my breath. Even after the two officers were found [NOT] guilty, the complicit Gleaner headlines blared the same defamatory sludge “Not Guilty…Clarendon ‘Death Squad’ Cops Freed Of Murder”.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
We Jamaicans have always been known to be unconstrained by rules, boundaries or laws. We are wild and crazy people, who will push the boundaries of acceptability, until the rope line flings us backward. It is that kind of wild abandon which makes us unconcerned about obeying laws and rules while simultaneously demanding peace and tranquility within the same space in which we created the disquiet and mayhem. We demand that the police deal decisively with the issue of crime while we protest when they arrest the criminals. We expect the trappings and comforts of modern first-world societies, yet we are reluctant to deal with the inconveniences which must precede the laying of the modern infrastructure we crave.
It seems to me that we are in a dilemma about what it takes to bring Jamaica to the stage we all want her to be because we are a microwave people who must have what we want now and without any delay. That is the quagmire in which we find ourselves, as we seemingly are unaware of what it takes to build the kind of society we demand. At the center of this quagmire are some political leaders whom I must conclude, knows what it takes to build our society the right way, but are more concerned with electability than speaking the truth to their constituents. I do understand that dilemma, we are an opinionated people who will not allow facts or rational reasoning to get in the way of our emotions and preconceived perceptions. Then there are others I think, like the PNP’s Damion Crawford who is smart, intelligent and is unafraid to tell it like it is. That may explain why Crawford is finding it difficult to acquire or hold on to a seat in the lower chamber in Gordon House. The majority of the people are still unprepared and unwilling to hear intelligent truth so they hold onto misplaced fantastical myths.
The question I continue to ask of the Jamaican people is this, ” how do we attain a society built on the rule of law, if the lawmakers are themselves, criminals’? How do we build a society where everyone is able to live out their lives in security and peace if we are unwilling to submit to the laws of the country? How do we compete in the world if we continue to create a [pretentious system] which is soft on criminals, while we demand an end to crime? The simple answer is that we cannot. We have to make the hard choices that we do not want the level of criminality that presently exist in our country and at the same time, we must be prepared to accept that removing all of that garbage will not be pleasant to look at. If we fail to make the hard choices we are merely delaying the inevitable. Given enough time we will not have the ability to turn back from this precipice we are heading toward.
After the second world war, the Russians built out and expanded Communism all across Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and even in satellites as close to us as Cuba and across Latin America. Jamaica may have been saved the destructive clutches of Communism by the late Edward Seaga, who pushed back against Michael Manley’s determined flirtations with authoritarianism and his desires to see Jamaica become a satellite of the then Soviet Union. Today many Jamaicans are fixated with the notion of the CIA’s interference in our country, but they are blissfully unaware of what was about to beset our country, had Michael Manley had his way in turning Jamaica into a proxy of the Soviet Union. Sure, the CIA’s interfered in our affairs, but the actions of the Americans were directly attributable to ensuring that the Soviet Union did not gain another foothold in their backyard, they were already in Cuba and Nicaragua, etc..
Michael Manley
Manley was determined to tether our country to a failing 20th-century military power. One which was operating on an unsustainable 19th-century economic model. States of the former Soviet Union like Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania, etc, were barely eking out a living through subsistence farming, done largely through the use of horse and ox-drawn plows. Yet the proceeds of their efforts had to go Russia, the center of the Empire to fund Russian militaristic exploits across the globe. In the end, the Soviet Empire crumbled because it was a mammoth iron beast with feet made out of clay. The Soviet empire collapsed because it ran out of money, plain and simple. Hungry, angry, broke and disillusioned many of the former satellites of the Soviet Union hated the Russians. They themselves wanted out of the Soviet vice and could not wait to break away and align themselves to the west as soon as the cracks became evident in the communist façade.
In the same way, the Soviet empire crumbled because it could not sustain itself, Jamaica, an Island which begged to become a satellite of that sinking ship, cannot build a prosperous society unless it faces up to the reality that the corruption in the society is a major hindrance to full growth and development let alone prosperity. Sure the present administration has made some positive economic moves which have borne positive results. The results of which are evident in the growth indices. Nevertheless, those numbers are nowhere near where they need to be for anyone to begin celebrating. In a March 18th, 2019, Editorial theDaily Gleaner said the following.
Despite minister of finance Nigel Clarke’s valiant attempt at playing up the growth numbers for last year during his Budget presentation, the reality is that the hope for an acceleration of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the Jamaican economy has not occurred. The much-heralded Growth Council does not appear likely to realize its ‘5 in 4’ growth target. The last time the Jamaican economy grew anywhere near to three percent per annum was over a decade ago. The Jamaican economy seems stubbornly locked into a low growth equilibrium path, averaging only about one percent per annum over the last 30 years. Over the same period, the Chinese economy, for example, has had double-digit annual GDP growth rates, resulting in the complete transformation of the economy and society. For Jamaica to achieve the much sought-after transformation, it must grow for a sustained period at an annual rate of at least five percent per annum. Growth has eluded the country, despite tremendous efforts at reforms. Much more needs to be done to achieve faster growth. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20190318/editorial-growth-and-2019 – 20-budget
Andrew Holness PM
(1) That [much more] entails, relaxing the massive bureaucratic burdensome restrictions which discourages people from starting new businesses. As a result, they resort to the underground economy which is thriving and growing. (2) Eliminating corruption from public bodies engenders trust and gives potential investors and entrepreneurs the confidence they need to invest, thereby expanding the formal economy. (3) Most consequential, is the need to arrest the freedom of the murderous gangs which have all but taken over the Island, and are operating with near impunity. Without a doubt, the lethargic growth rate that has plagued the Island, is directly attributable to the fear investors, diaspora- residents and others feel of being murdered. The freedom of criminals to summarily murder whomever they will and get away with it, stems directly from the lack of testicular fortitude coming from the leadership on what to do to the murderers. Instead of ensuring that there is no safe haven for murderers in our country, the Island’s political leaders have created and maintained a false narrative that stridently and decisively enforcing the nation’s laws is the same as abusing the rights of citizens. This nonsense has given immense cover to those who would engage in, harbor, and support criminal behavior. And so like the Soviets the Jamaican people are being conned into a sense that prosperity is just around the corner. The prosperity which they will never see with the present conditions even if they manage to stay alive.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
We are excited that we will now be doing Podcasts along with our regular blogs as we continue to communicate with you, even as we are reminded that we must acquiesce to the times and the varying ways in which you want to consume information. We hope that you will give us feedback so that we may be able to work to make this venture better and more pleasant for you our subscribers.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
Having heard the Minister of National Security addressing the pepper-spraying incident of former Deputy Superintendent of Police Altamont (Parro ) Campbell by the police, I was stunned that the Minister would publicly offer an opinion in his capacity as Minister of National Security while the incident was fresh and still under investigation. More consequential to himself I thought, was the fact that the Minister would offer opinions without the requisite knowledge of the laws and the(RT, Act) Road Traffic Act in particular. The Minister, a medical Doctor, is not a lawyer or police officer. He isn’t a former police officer either, So the Minister for all intents and purposes, is no more, no less, than an average citizen on this issue. Chang says the Senior cop did not behave appropriately. He says it’s the type of behavior noted among politicians and others who feel they are above the law. The National Security Minister says it’s the Senior cop’s aggressive behavior that caused the on-duty policeman to use the pepper spray. I was with the minister on the need to obey the laws and particularly when he referenced politicians and others in the society who believe they are above the laws. Nevertheless, his assessment on what transpired is a rapid departure from what I and countless others saw on the video and my understanding of the Road Traffic Act.
Commissioner of Police Antony Anderson
The minister has made some missteps including likening the police to glorified security guards, and not defending the cops when he needed to since he took office. I believe that the Minister’s attempt to defend the officer in this case, may be an attempt to ingratiate himself with the police after his previous missteps. And so the Minister has found himself running protection for commissioner of police Antony Anderson who is himself not a police officer or lawyer and so he cannot respond to issues of this nature with any degree of authority either, without embarrassing himself.
Neither scenarios of the Minister running protection for Commissioner Anderson, nor Commissioner Anderson playing it safe so as not to embarrass himself, absolves the so-called Police high command, which has incompetently failed once again to be out front on this, as it has on so many other issues. The Police has an information arm which is something which it never had during my brief stint in the late ’80s to early ’90s. Why was there no official statement from the inept police high command? Why did the Commissioner of Police hide from the media when he could have stepped in front of the microphones and given a generic statement like the following.
[We take note of the incident involving one of our officers and a member of the public”. “We have protocols in place to ensure the safety of the public when they come in contact with our officers, at the same time, we fully appreciate the difficult circumstances under which our officers are asked to perform their duties. As a consequence, we ask the public to allow the process to play out and the investigation to come to a conclusion. We promise that the process will be fair to all parties as we are bound to protect the public, while ensuring the safety and security of our officers.]
The foregone was a generic statement we drafted which the Commissioner of police could have made to the media or send his media person out to make. It would indicate to a skeptical public that the lethargic police were not asleep at the wheel. At the same time, Deputy Commissioner of Police Selvin Hay who was appointed Inspector General of the JCF told the media that he has not done an inventory to see whether solutions are available, after pepper spray has been employed, but he said the High Command will be rolling out a suite of less-lethal weapons to help police maintain law and order. This is likely to include more pepper spray, tasers, batons and handcuffs. “Everything is being looked at, so if there is not sufficient, then we will certainly look at where they are needed, because there is never ever any plan to put the officer out there, both for him to be at risk and for him to be at risk to the citizen,” he said. Of course, being a part of the high command Hay could not avoid stuffing his foot all the way into his own mouth. Quote; A lot of people just jump on the word ‘training’ as if we have this Police College that trains people to be disrespectful and unprofessional and unconscionable.” “Nobody trains anybody to shoot without justification or to spray somebody without justification; that is not what training does. It is a supervisory régime that needs to be improved and people being held accountable. That is what needs to be improved.”
DCP Selvin Haye
I beg to differ, it is about training. Supervisory breakdowns are about training your own attitude indicates it is about training. In every instance that there is a breakdown of established protocols training has to be re-evaluated to see what can be fine-tuned or done differently. But Haye’ comment is typical of a [so-called high command] which has consistently seen itself as different and detached from the officers on the front line. As I have said maybe a thousand times, get rid of some of the Selvin Hayes and give me a good constable determined to serve the public, and I feel a lot better any day.
This man is reported to have taken his own life after arriving home and finding his girlfriend with another man. This unfortunate incident occurred in St. Thomas. As more information becomes available we will make it available.
By now, every person and their mother have seen this unfortunate video. I was surprised at the escalation of this incident, but I will be constrained in what I say here as this incident is fresh and still under investigation. I know Parro Campbell; I worked alongside Parro Campbell, he is my friend in the interest of full disclosure. I trusted him with my life. With that said, I will try my best to be objective and treat Mister Campbell as every Jamaican citizen ought to be treated when the police stop them. It is also important to remember that we do not know what transpired before the young son of mister Campbell started rolling the camera. As such, we should look at the demeanor of the officer and the motorist, mister Campbell. There was no yelling going on by either actor. As we heard, mister Campbell’s son conceded, his dad had overtaken a line of vehicles, not necessarily an infraction if it is done safely and in a place where he had a clear line of vision, and is allowed to overtake. Nevertheless, it clearly was enough to get mister Campbell pulled over by the officer.
Now, I am a former police officer long removed from enforcing the laws, so where I may misinterpret the laws, please do not be too harsh with the cussing. If the officer asked the motorist for his driver’s license and the motorist says he does not have it on him. He should ask if the motorist has any other form of identification by which he may be identified. If the motorist does not, he must produce the registration and proof of insurance. The officer would inquire whether the motorist is the registered owner of the vehicle. If the motorist answers in the affirmative, the officer would then ask for his name and date of birth and match it against the insurance and registration documents’ information. The officer then goes ahead and writes the citation/s for which the motorist was initially pulled over. It is important that as long as the motorist does not obstruct the officer, by not supplying the other documents, (a‑la, insurance cert., registration, etc.), then the motorist has (5) days to produce his driver’s license to a police station of his convenience. Those are the dictates of the Road Traffic Act.
So let’s go back to the video; the officer asked the motorist for his driver’s license and was told the motorist does not have one on him. Several things went wrong as the incident escalated out of control. Still, I will not litigate the video because I believe there is one sticking point here that negates everything else. The officer went from asking for the motorist driver’s license to threatening.……Arrest. It seems to me that the motorist, a former police officer, knew that the officer had erred and was humoring the uniformed officer because he knew that the officer really had no power of arrest on this issue. My personal knowledge of the motorist tells me that mister Campbell would have jokingly shown the officer the error of his ways given time in typical fashion. This brings me to the point I want to make. An officer is most effective, not when he is the most determined; even though I respect a determined officer, he is most effective when he is right on the law he is enforcing. Since this incident, I have read hundreds of comments and heard dozens of points of view from past and present members; I have come away even more convinced than before that we are not training our police in a way that is commensurate way the complexities of the times. If the other constable on the scene knew the traffic law, he should have pulled his colleague aside and walk him back from his immediate demand that the motorist exit his vehicle. Obviously, he wasn’t up to speed on his powers under the law either, or he did not have the esprit de corps to care about the proceedings. He was basically a disinterested party, which is equally as dangerous as the ignorance of the (RT Act) displayed in that unfortunate video recording. As we get closer to robotic cops enforcing traffic laws in the powerful industrial nations, we must equip our human officers so that they do not find themselves in situations like this one. There will be a gazillion opinions on who did what, or what should have been done differently,(mine included), that’s okay, but at the end of it all, this matter rests on the (RT Act), not on our opinions. An officer cannot go from requesting a motorist’s driver’s license to threatening arrest. More and more citizens are becoming more and more educated on the laws; they understand the protections they have under the laws, so the police officer*must* be fully conversant of his powers when he deals with the public.
********************** Since this article was first published, additional research has revealed that a new Road Traffic Act has been drafted to replace the old one. The new Road Traffic Bill, which will repeal and replace the existing 1938 Act, was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (February 6 – 2018). Offenses under the Bill include: driving without required motor vehicle insurance coverage ($20,000); driving a motor vehicle without being the holder of a permit or driver’s license ($40,000); failure of the driver to obey traffic light ($24,000); loud noises within silence zones and failure to wear a protective helmet ($5,000); failure to comply with traffic signs ($10,000); and failure to stop at pedestrian crossings ($12,000). It is not fully clear whether the new law is already in effect, although we have been informed that it isn’t. However, we have been unable to independently confirm whether it is, in fact, in effect. If it is in effect, it does put the uniformed officer in a different and better light.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, researcher, blogger, and a black achiever honoree. He is the creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.
If the Police are not allowed to go after the gangsters and get the guns wherever the hell they are, because remember, the Prime Minister said police are no longer allowed to kick in doors and arrest criminals. And when an accused murderer is finally brought to court he is given bail and turned loose right away. Worse yet, on the rare occasion that these vicious gangsters are found guilty, they are given a tap on the wrist. And if the government now wants to expunge their criminal records, then, what are the people supposed to do?
The citizens are going to take the law into their own hands, and that is something no one wants. Government has a duty and a responsibility to protect the citizenry. In fact, it is the primary responsibility of any government from as far back as Medieval rulers who built walls and other fortifications to protect their people. Unfortunately, this rather simple reality has not yet dawned on those on whose shoulders it falls to protect the Jamaican people. It is not as simple as some police officers turning a blind to far too much, or selling their badges. It transcends some prosecutors not aggressively prosecuting some crimes. It’s more than just citizen-legislators not having the balls to write legislation which is clear and unequivocal in its resolve against crime, because of course, many of them are criminal defense lawyers. You know, the lawmakers are the lawbreakers? It is not even just about judges who sully the Bench by taking bribes, or as products of their environments, refuses to sentence violent felons to long prison terms. It is more than the prison officials who allow contraband into the system and creates through their corruption, another layer of criminal conduct in the penal system. Or even letting convicted felons out for days on end while they are supposed to be locked up. It is about all of the foregone and then some. But most of all it is about a collective culture which is highly tolerant and deferential to criminal and lawless behavior. It is that backward thinking which caused the People’s National Party to send Anthony Brown and George Flash overseas after they had committed numerous murders in the ’70s including the killing of police officers. Murder is not a statute, it is according to common law. And so there is no [statute of limitation], when you kill someone if you get caught a hundred years later you can be prosecuted. The fact that Anthony Brown and George Flash were never prosecuted means that some police officers were complicit in destroying the files which should have been used to prosecute them on their return to Jamaica. Somehow they knew that they would never be held accountable and so they returned with nary a care in the world.
It is a collective national disease of the mind which is unfortunately centered on demonstrating to criminals that we care more about them than looking after crime victims. It is a twisted and warped psyche which defaults to empathy for criminals rather than their broken victims. And so we have to face the reality from Jamaica House on down, that the way we have dealt with criminal conduct has been regressive and of itself a contributing factor to the growth of crime in our country. There is not a single conscientious Jamaican who could logically argue that we have not as a nation, dedicated far too much of our energies worrying about how we treat dangerous murderers than we have spent caring about those killed and or those left behind to grieve and suffer. It is kind of a scenario in which a kid spills red wine on the white shag carpet. He had no business touching and his parent’s wine and the more he tries to clean it up, the worse the carpet becomes. He started out doing something which he shouldn’t have done, and rather than just stop.….… He continues to try to clean up what was started all wrong and does more and more damage.
As a country, we can come to the recognition that we are not having the intended results from our efforts. That’s usually a sign that we have been going about our approach to crime all wrong. I understand how difficult that can be to accept. In fact, even some who have spent decades in law enforcement would rather question the messenger than look at the message. What we have developed in Jamaica is a far too nuanced approach to law enforcement. We have become the man who with his son was taking their donkey to sell at the market. You know the story they listened to every person with an opinion until they lost the donkey. There is one way to deal with criminals. The state must make it clear that those who decide on a life of crime must expect no quarter for their actions. The greatest deterrent to crime is a no-nonsense punitive approach, those who are not deterred society ought to have a remedy for them as well. We have become a criminal centered society and part of the reason for that is that the entire leadership of the country at every level have passed through the far left leaning doors of the University of the West Indies. Politicians on both sides think as a monolith on everything outside their own rapacious desire to survive politically. The lack of [alternative] critical-thinking, from the worldview derived from the UWI, has confined the nation to a bunch of autocrats at every level who are monolithic in their thinking. They are preoccupied with arranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic, instead of readying the lifeboats.
Qualified immunity is a plague on the criminal justice system, a made-up rule that allows countless government officials to violate Americans’ constitutional rights with impunity. On Tuesday, however, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rare decision denying qualified immunity to a law enforcement officer who allegedly engaged in horrific misconduct that, in other contexts, might constitute sexual assault. The case highlights just how appalling an official’s malfeasance must be for his victim to receive a semblance of justice in court. The ghastly chain of events in Campbell v. Mackwere set off when Kevin Campbell, a black man, drove past Daniel Mack, a white police officer in Allen Park, Michigan. Campbell was driving his wife’s new minivan, which had a temporary license plate clearly displayed on the back window in compliance with the law. But Mack pulled him over, ostensibly for driving without a license plate. Campbell revealed that he did not have a driver’s license, but handed Mack his state ID card, as well as the new vehicle’s paperwork. Mack ordered him out of the car.
As soon as Campbell exited the car, Mack handcuffed and frisked him, then put him in the back of his cruiser. Campbell complained that the handcuffs hurt his wrists; in response, the officer allegedly tightened them and said, “that’s the loosest they’re going to get.” He also accused Campbell of stealing the minivan. Mack put his police dog directly into Campbell’s car, then searched it himself — all without any apparent probable cause. The officer then took Campbell to the police station, where he uncuffed him. Campbell noted that the handcuffs were too tight and showed Mack the bruises they had left. Mack told him that “handcuffs leave marks on everybody.” (Campbell later received treatment for his damaged wrists at a hospital.) Mack then said he believed Campbell was hiding drugs and needed to perform a strip search, though he did not attempt to obtain a warrant. The officer put Campbell in a cage and told him to take off his pants.
Campbell objected, but Mack allegedly directed him to “get naked” and “drop his draws,” telling him: “You’re in a holding facility. You’re getting naked.” Asserting that he detected “a narcotic odor,” Mack told Campbell: “We’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.” Campbell said that was “not possible” because he did not do drugs, but Mack insisted that he was hiding narcotics, declaring: “Your pants are unzipped. I’m gonna find it one way or another, all right. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way. What do you got in your drawers?” (Campbell denies that his pants were unzipped.) Mack then pulled down Campbell’s pants and underwear, bent down, and examined Campbell’s genitals. Campbell repeatedly asked the officer to stop and told him, “Nah, you can’t do that, man,” but Mack responded, “Yes, I can, yes, I can,” and escalated the search. Mack allegedly felt underneath Campbell’s genitals, telling another officer he had drugs “tucked underneath his balls” or “tucked in his fucking ass crack.” Campbell claims that Mack also “grabbed” and “pulled” his testicles and “stuck his finger inside of my anus.” Eventually, the officer gave up and told Campbell: “You can keep it,” referring to these putative drugs. No narcotics were ever found.
Mack contests Campbell’s version of the events, contending that, among other things, he never inserted his finger into Campbell’s anus. A camera captured the incident, but the video quality is poor, and the officers positioned themselves in a way that blocked a clear image of the search. The video does, however, show Campbell saying, “Why are you putting your finger in my [anus]?” and the officer responding at one point, “Because you have it tucked in your [body].”At this stage, though, the factual dispute doesn’t much matter. Campbell simply wants the case to go to trial so he can prove his claims to a jury. He is suing Mack for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights, accusing him of retaliating against his protected speech and performing an unreasonable search and seizure. But Mack raised qualified immunity, arguing that his actions, as alleged by Campbell, did not violate any “clearly established” constitutional right. If Mack had received qualified immunity, Campbell’s case would never go to trial; it would be dismissed, because Mack would be shielded from liability.
But in an opinion by Judge Eric Clay, the 6th Circuit refused to grant Mack qualified immunity. It is clearly established, Clay wrote, that an officer “needs either probable cause or reasonable suspicion to conduct a traffic stop.” Mack had neither. It is also clearly established that an officer may not retaliate when a suspect contests “his or her allegedly unlawful treatment.” The First Amendment protects a suspect’s right to complain. Yet Mack did just that, allegedly tightening Campbell’s handcuffs and performing the body cavity search in an increasingly “aggressive, intimidating, and hostile manner” because Campbell protested. Under well-established 6th Circuit precedent, Mack’s actions, as recounted by Campbell, were obviously unlawful, so Mack must fight them at trial, and cannot hide behind qualified immunity.
This outcome is encouraging, though it’s unfortunate that the court issued the decision “unpublished,” meaning it will not serve as precedent in future cases. (Appeals courts can decide to keep their rulings unpublished, a controversial but common practice.) The ruling is also a reminder of the vagaries of qualified immunity: In the hands of a different court, it easily could’ve gone the other way. Judges have granted qualified immunity to one officer who shot an innocent man in his own home, another who let a police dog maul a homeless person, and even a social worker who strip-searched and photographed a 4‑year-old girl without consent or a warrant. The doctrine has been invoked over and over again to insulate police from consequences when they shoot civilians. Justice Sonia Sotomayor has decried the Supreme Court’s “sanctioning” of this “ ‘shoot first, think later’ approach to policing.”
In recent years, a cross-ideological coalition of advocates — including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cato Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom, Americans for Prosperity, the Institute for Justice, and Public Justice — have urged the Supreme Court to scale back or end qualified immunity. They argue that qualified immunity is itself unlawful, or at least extended far beyond what the law permits. It is, after all, a judge-made rule, untethered from any statute or constitutional command. The Supreme Court has not yet agreed to reconsider its jurisprudence in this area. And until it does, only cases as egregious as Campbell’s — where the officer’s alleged actions would, in any other context, constitute criminal sexual assault—might defeat qualified immunity. Courts, meanwhile, can almost always pretend that an officer’s abuses don’t run afoul of “clearly established” law; consider a recent decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holding that the police did not violate clearly established law when they stole money from suspects. Until SCOTUS shrinks the scope of qualified immunity, rulings like Campbell v. Mack will remain the exception to the rule.
As the senseless bloodshed continue across Jamaica, a male vendor and a woman were murdered in the Old Harbor Market yesterday at about 2:10 pm.
According to supposed eyewitnesses, the two were gunned down by two men who then ran away. They were both pronounced dead at the Spanish Town Hospital. These kinds of brazen daylight murders have become the norm as gunmen kill whomever they chose and simply walk away without any seeming fear of the authorities.
We take no pleasure in showing these images but we are desperate for action on crime in Jamaica. We hope that our people’s sensibilities will be shocked and they will be forced into action. We can no longer sweep these killings under the rug and pretend that they are not occurring. We fully understand the concerns of those who say we should not show these images, but we also appreciate that we have been omitting to show these images and people are still dying. In fact, more and more people are dying, so not showing them have not worked to stop the bloodshed. We need our leaders to be held accountable for their lack of consequential action on the nation’s crime front.
These Weapons were allegedly recovered today in the West Kingston Area, as police intercepted two motor cars with gunmen on-board. Early reports indicate that the gangsters are pissed at this loss.
Thank you for the brave police officers who continue to put themselves between the low-life thugs who are determined to create mayhem on innocent Jamaicans. Unfortunately, for ordinary Jamaicans, these police officers are the only thing which stands between them and the killers, as the Government has determined that the full force and power of the entire state apparatus are better used chastizing and disrespecting the hard working and poorly paid police.
In a voice note circulating on social media one alleged gangster can be heard bemoaning the loss of the weapons. At the same time, the killings continue unabated across the Island.
Jamaica’s murder statistics are not getting better, in fact, they are getting worse. This year the Island is on track to record an even greater number of murders than it did last year. In an attempt to fool the public, and create for the International community, a sense that they are on top of the Island’s burgeoning crime epidemic, the government has embarked on a series of initiatives designed to placate and confuse. Chief among the administration’s smoke and mirror charade is the (SOE) State Of Emergencies, and (ZOSO’s) Zones Of Special Operations, both of which includes the flooding of communities with the bodies of police and soldiers, spot-checks and other show of force band-aid approaches, which are highly ineffectual and simply laughable as crime prevention strategies in this day and age.
This is what Andrew Holness deserved when he disrespected the police officers at their own retreat
The Jamaican Prime Minister would rather hobnob with foreign leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu, of the apartheid state of Israel without acknowledging that those leaders do not tolerate the levels of criminality that he tolerates. Even though they may be totally corrupt shit-bags themselves. The Prime minister’s horse and pony show were in full display at the police federation’s retreat in Ocho Rios recently. There he showed up and disrespected them, reeled off a laundry list of platitudes and promises, all while telling them that what he really wants is for them to be nice to the blood-thirsty murderers who are waging war on the Jamaican people. For the record, if this former cop was a member of that group, as soon as he started with his bullshit I would have gotten up and walked out. Wouldn’t it have been nice if everyone had gotten up and walked out leaving him standing there talking to Chang, Fitz Jackson and Antony Anderson? Or better yet, take a tact from what the NYPD officers did to Mayor Deblasio, who was far less deserving of the cops action’s than Holness is. Yea, but we are talking about Jamaican cops, they are too shit scared to stand up for themselves, so every Tom Harry and every Dick disrespects them. Nothing like the NYPD officers, who to a man, turned their backs on Mayor Deblasio when they thought he had disrespected them.
The damage being done to our country’s security infrastructure by this administration will be incalculable. This is not to suggest that the People’s National Party is in any way more equipped to deal with the new crop of hardcore criminals who are now operating in the Jamaican space. On the one hand, the Prime minister and his (non-police, ‑police commissioner Antony Anderson), (Horace Chang, the National Security Minister, who heads St James most intractable garrison) is pulling the wool over the nation’s collective eyes, Delroy Chuck the so-called (Justice Minister) is working assiduously to strengthen the hands of criminals, by trying to give them a new start after they have committed murder. Or worse to ensure that they do not face trial for their crimes.
Delroy Chuck has orchestrated a slick scheme which takes full advantage of the country’s inability to bring cases to a resolution in a [timely manner]. As far as the Chuck and Holness show goes, violent criminals (including murderers), will have their cases tossed from court dockets if there is no resolution at the end of five years. As I have written exclusively before, this in and of itself is an invitation and an opportunity for high-priced influential criminal defense lawyers to get creative in bringing to a virtual stop, murder cases involving well-connected accused, with a view to having those cases tossed. Every accused person charged with a crime does have a constitutional right to a speedy trial. Now, what constitutes a speedy trial is for the experts to decide. Nevertheless what it should never be, is a gateway and or an excuse for corrupt politicians to prevent their cohorts from facing justice, or to sanitize their violent murderous criminal records as this administration is trying to do as we speak. The issues which are being recycled by the government are knee-jerk proposals which are not well thought out by people in the know. Under the leadership of Commissioner Carl Williams, the Government through the JCF embarked on what they called then, a get the guns campaign. I was opposed to it then, and I specifically stated the following. Essentially, this is just another Gun Amnesty which generally does precious little to reduce Crime but provides a stream of income to those already immersed in criminal conduct and more specifically those engaged in the gun trade. Generally, Criminals do not give up their guns, they will turn over unused or unusable old weapons to the police while holding onto their stash of real weapons. Probably more consequential, a gun amnesty opens up new opportunities for gun traders to source weapons illegally then simply sell them to the Police/Government at a profit. The new head of the Police Federation echoed this position on national radio days ago. It is good to see that they are beginning to learn something and push back against the insanity of the Government, even though he mealy-mouthed said he was not opposed to it.
I was opposed to gun buy-backs even then , I am opposed to it today
Ask yourselves this question, what kind of government refuses to lay down the laws to criminals in defense of the people? What is the fear of going after criminals, first with laws so punitive that every person with an illegal gun would bury it and never look back at the spot where that gun is buried? What it will take for the Jamaican people to wake up and smell the coffee is anyone’s guess. After all, we are not people particularly well known for critical thinking. Political loyalties are lifelong, breaking out of those confines are not something we are known for. The across the board assault on the way we effectuate the rule of law in Jamaica at the present time, does not lend itself to a reduction in the crime statistics. Conversely, it will result in new levels of criminality in Jamaica and eventually, across the region no one bargained for, as Jamaican criminals take their brand of murder and mayhem international.
It is not out of the ordinary for Jamaican criminals to create mammoth empires and build them out internationally, resulting in tremendous grief to tens of thousands of innocent people spread out over large geographical areas. The Shower and Spangler’s posses were two of the more well known and infamous ones, but there has been a long litany of other violent Jamaican criminal gangs which were forced to leave Jamaica during the 80’s rule of now deceased former Prime Minister Edward Seaga. Faced with long prison sentences or certain death those gangsters emigrated to the United States Canada and Britain and changed the way law enforcement dealt with gangs, particular;y in the United States of America. The “Showa Possee,” a murderous gang which had its roots in Tivoli Gardens is easily the most renowned of those gangs. To this day, law enforcement and media entities in the United States believe that the gang derived its name from showering its adversaries with bullets. The truth of the matter is that the Gang derived its name from its association with the Jamaica Labor Party and it’s 80’s mantra “Showa”. These groups, including the [Showa Posse] in particular, were keyto the Authorities decisions to draft tough laws like the “Rico statute” in the United States, which linked operatives of those gangs into criminal enterprises, and instituted serious punitive remedies for participation in such groups. That was in the ’80s when those criminals ran away from Jamaica, this is 2019 and criminals are not running away from Jamaica they are being dumped onto Jamaica through the process of deportation from every country in which Jamaicans live and break their laws. Juxtapose that with the technological advances of today, the smarts of today’s criminals the shackles which have been placed on the police in Jamaica, and it is easy to see where this is headed.
For those in the diaspora who wishes to pull their heads from their political asses, as well as the Island’s traditional partners, it is important that what this administration is doing is not allowed to go without a response. The entire process is corrupt to the core. How do we get to a place where a court agrees with a double murderer that his constitutional rights are infringed by his being in jail for a few years without a trial?
Mervin Cameron and Christopher Wilson, were arrested and charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and robbery for the 2012 murder of Barrington Davis, then deputy chief of security at Jamaica Post, and his female friend, Patricia Lumont-Barnswell. Cameron was awarded damages and requested a $30-million payout from the Government after he languished in jail for nearly six years while his case wound its way through the court system. Yes, a Jamaican court agreed with a murderer that being locked up as he awaits trial was a breach of his constitutional rights. The court, in a landmark two-to-one majority ruling handed down last year, found that his constitutional right had been violated and awarded him damage, but ordered prosecutors to proceed with his trial swiftly. Davis and Lumont-Barnswell were kidnapped from his home in St John’s Heights, St Catherine, in August 2012. Their decomposed bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds in a cane field in Innswood, also in St Catherine, according to local reporting. Of Friday, May 31st the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston handed down a unanimous verdict of guilty in the case against Mervin Cameron and Christopher Wilson.
This is what Jamaica has become, a top-to-bottom criminal enhancement enterprise which pays lip service to the rule of law but behind the scenes is inherently corrupt. When the Prime Minister speaks with his forked tongue about police associations, he knows fully well just how hypocritical and duplicitously he is as he makes those assertions. Sure, some police officers are corrupt, but an arm of government being somewhat corrupt is a function of a complicit government. What is happening to Jamaica is over much of the Jamaican population heads. In the end, it is the ordinary man who ends up dead on the street corners daily. Their bullet-riddled bodies grotesquely sprawled encased in their own drying blood, or their heads chopped off.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
People are being asked to avoid Waltham Park road and Maxfield Avenue. According to early reports, the so-called Don who goes by the name[Bagga]was allegedly gunned down not long ago. More to come as soon as information becomes available.
What can we say about Karine Jean-Pierre, MoveOn’s chief public affairs officer who jumped up immediately to confront the man who invaded the stage and grabbed the Microphone from Senator Kamala Harri’s hand?
While Senator Kamala Harris was speaking on a MoveOn panel, an audience member came on stage and stole the microphone from the 2020 presidential candidate. Shortly after, the man was taken off the stage and the senator rejoined the panel.
The guy who took Kamala Harris’ mic, Aidan Cook, 24 of Oakland, said he’s trying to bring more attention to the mass extinction of animals. He is not being charged with a crime, he said, adding that the MoveOn security crew was “cool about it.”
Absolutely interesting read from our friends at HuffingtonPost.com. With the struggles of the 60’s and the progress made including the election of An African-American to the presidency of the United States twice, it is easy to lose sight of the real facts. But as Michael Hobbs wrote Sunday, in a 2018 survey, the percentage of younger whites self-reporting that they had interracial friendships was nearly identical to that of older whites. Studies that examine “close” friendships find even greater racial separation: In 2006, researchers reviewed photos from more than a thousand marriage celebrations and found that only 3.7 percent of white couples had a black person in their wedding party. “Quality contact between whites and other races isn’t happening very often,” Enos said. “Whites often withdraw when their neighborhood or school starts to become more diverse. Most of the examples of contact with other races resulting in more progressive attitudes come from situations where people. Read more here; https://www.huffpost.com/entry/turns-out-white-millennials-are-just-as-conservative-as-their-parents_n_5ce856fee4b0512156f16939
Anyone with a shred of decency, honesty, and fairness must be offended at Andrew Holness’s disgusting behavior as a guest of the Police at their retreat in Ocho Rios days ago. Or better yet, maybe I should say that in another country that kind of behavior would have been met with a solid wall of condemnation and significant consequences to boot. Unfortunately, Jamaica is not that kind of country, it is a country with a political class which is largely a bunch of criminals, a cheerleading media which also hates the police, a pseudo-intellectual class with its collective head so far up its own pretentious ass to be of use to the country, and an otherwise vastly illiterate masses.
To begin with, when you are an invited guest in another man’s house you act magnanimously to your host. It does not mean that you necessarily agree with everything that that person ever did or say, but it means that for that brief moment that you are an invited guest you show that man some damn respect. If you do not have it in you to have some class, stay away. But what Andrew Holness did was even more classless, because while he was disrespecting the poor feckless police representatives at their own retreat, two police officers had just been shot a mere two days earlier and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the marauding thugs Andrew Holness wants the police to be deferential to.
No officer who gave his/her life in service to their country deserves disrespect from a weak feckless and disrespectful politician who gave nothing in service to country
And so even though Holness is within his rights to hate the Police, as a product of his unfortunate and blighted environment, it was highly inappropriate that he would continue to berate and disrespect the hard-working men and women of the police department who foolishly invited him to address them. Sure some criminals have seeped into the police force, that is regrettable. Some have also seeped into the Parliament and into Jamaica House as well, and that is vastly more consequential. I did not hear Holness berate Andrew Wheatley who was forced to resign over the Pertojam scandal. After all the Petrojam scandal has been a scandal of epic proportion which has cost the Jamaican people untold billions of dollars in lost revenue. I did not hear Holness berate Ruel Reid over his scandal, lavish spending and reportedly alleged corrupt practices as Minister of Education. I did not hear Holness Criticize Carl Samuda who was allegedly forced to repay the Jamaican people for the workers who were reportedly working on his farm on tax-payers dime. Should I go on or have I made my point about the rampant corruption which has characterized the Holness Administration? Because we can go on and detail point by point the incidences of corruption in this three-year Government.
The Prime Minister, as Minister of Defense, is well within his right to be critical of police corruption, as long as he is equally adamant and vociferousness about corruption across the board beginning with his own administration. He is well allowed to lash out against Police associations with underworld figures, as long as he also looks behind him and in front of his seat in Gordon House at the well-dressed crooks parading as men of character. What we have in this Prime Minister, is a man who is a product of and a mindset which was derived from the past, steeped in ignorance of what modern day police ought to look like to protect the people and the stubbornness and lack of humility to acknowledge that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. In the end, Andrew Holness is a product of the garrison politics our country must eschew, he is a Socialist, schooled and educated in far left ideological thinking parading as a conservative Prime Minister. He understands nothing about what the rule of law means fundamentally to the wellbeing and development of a people. His subsequent fixation with abusing and demonizing the police are bound to cause more harm than it will end the unmitigated bloodshed in our country.
And now it pains me to see that the Party of Bustamante and Hugh Lawson Shearer, has become the anti-police party. It is no surprise that as Edward Seaga the last leader who believed in the rule of law (somewhat), has passed, the Labor party my grandparents supported, have become the party of Bruce Golding and Andrew Holness, elitist frauds who hate the police. Make no mistake about it when Andrew Holness stood in front of delegates of the Police Federation and the entire nation and talks about creating a police force for good, he is saying that the police which existed before was and have always been a force for evil. That has been his argument all along. His disrespect and hatred of the police come directly from a dark place within his inner sanctum, as the Member of Parliament of one of the most entrenched garrisons on the Island. The many police officers who paid the ultimate price in service to their country do not deserve a weak punk of a politician spitting on their grave in disrespect. What has Andrew Holness sacrificed for Jamaica? Absolutely nothing!
My squad-mate arrived for Police training with his Bible. He was the most innocent, gracious and God-fearing guy imaginable. He always had a smile on his face. After graduation Seiveright took that same congeniality, civility, and Christianity to the streets. As a patrolman stationed at the Motorized Patrol, one night he approached a suspicious taxi-cab his driver pulled over on the Ferry main road. Courteous as always, Seiverright approached the cab with the same degree of naïveté’, which Andrew Holness, his minister of national security, and his [non-police] commissioner have toward actual policing. Before Seiveright could greet the occupants of the cab, he was greeted with a bellyful of 9mm bullets, he had no ballistic vest. At the time we had no ballistic vests.
When I was shot in 88 ballistic vests wasn’t a consideration, we simply did not have any. Constable Seiveright was not a part of any force for evil, he was not an evil man. I was not a part of any force for evil, every day that I put on my uniform and strapped on my utility belt, or buttoned up my shirt and laced up my shoes, as an investigator, I stepped out to help people, and make a safer country for each and every law-abiding Jamaican. The very idea of a tagline which now speaks about “a force for good,” is a disgrace and a disrespectful affront to the tens of thousands of officers who gave of themselves to their country throughout the 151 years of the JCF ‘s history. Despite the Yeomans sacrifice the police has given to nation building the Jamaica Labor Party and this Prime Minister has demonstrated that he has zero regards or respect for that service and sacrifice. Which brings me to thinking about those officers putting their lives on the line to protect him.
This behavior is not about party politics. This is about an elitist Prime Minister, from a party which has had problems in the past with perceptions of elitism. But this transcends the elitism which normally characterizes the JLP and has kept the party out of Jamaica house for almost two decades, because the average man did not believe their goals and aspirations were represented in the party. It is about a Politician who is blatantly ignorant about a subject and has, in an overbearing way, injected himself into the mechanics of policing and policing policies without the commensurate knowledge, or the sense to know that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. In addition to that, he fundamentally believes that the police are so backward and stupid that despite their many years of experience and education a suitable commissioner of police could not have come from the gazetted ranks of the force. And to remedy that, he appoints a sycophant who has zero law-enforcement experience to run a 12,000 man police force in one of the most volatile Islands in the Caribbean and one of the more crime-ridden places on planet earth. Not to mention the fact that this military General is the former head of a 3’000 man defense force. Now insofar as that is concerned, I have no sympathy for the police brass. Many of them have been pretty much lapdogs for the likes of Holness, crabs in a barrel, news carrying, pathetic excuses for leaders, so they deserve the slap in the face. It is the hard-working rank-and-file that I care about.
This requires no cliché, but make no mistake about it, messing with the Mobile Reserve and turning the JCF into a courtesy corps instead of a force, competent and able to deal with the challenges and emerging threats of the 21st century, will have sustained and significant challenges and consequences for Jamaica. INDECOM was the brainchild of Bruce Golding, Andrew Holness’ mentor. That has not worked so well for Jamaica, but there is far too much pretense and denial within the Jamaican intellectual space to walk that back. On this issue, the idea of an intellectual space is [oxymoronic]. Sure the police aren’t shooting the criminals as they are used to doing, so the criminals are shooting more innocent people than they were used to doing. But INDECOM, the Albatros, will be around the collective necks of Jamaicans, and the killers will continue to find solace in the fact that the police have no incentive to come after them. In the meantime, the government will continue to blow smoke up the nation’s ass, about the effectiveness of INDECOM without ever mentioning the fact that the end does not justify the means. Fewer bad guys are getting shot as more good guys are being murdered. This is the twilight zone that Jamaica has become.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
Credible reports being relayed to us is that Six (6) people have been shot in Greenvale Manchester in a drive-by shooting. We have been informed that the Greenvale Gang-leader Shane McDonald has also been shot. We are told that McDonald is undergoing surgery at this time. This is early reporting, we are awaiting confirmation and updates to this reporting, and as soon as more information becomes available we will pass it on to you.
There are several different conversations going on at the same time about the Robbery In May Pen Clarendon last Sunday morning, most of which makes sense. Some are sympathetic to the officers who were wounded, none more than this writer who has been shot in the line of duty as well. Others are concerned about the response time which seemed from my vantage point to have been pretty darn good. Then there are those who believe that these events are a precursor to bigger things to come. But one of the salient points I have heard raised is that officers are not exposing themselves to the criminal justice system as they did before, no matter what the Prime Minister and or the Minister of National Security says it appears that the damage has already been done.
One former colleague has been adamant that as things get closer to critical mass we will be seeing a singing of a different tune by the political leadership. The Minister Of National Security seems to be adopting a different tack from his previous tone and tenor but the Prime Minister seems stuck in a one-track mind which has nothing to do with the nation’s security. Addressing the Police Federation In Ocho Rios Holness said that the JCF was changing and that it was changing to a [force for good]. That by default, means that the force has always been a force for bad. Holness said that the force over the last decade has changed from a brutal force to one that members may not even see, even though those changes are happening right before their very eyes(not exactly a ringing endorsement of their intellect). The Prime Minister said that his Commissioner is implementing changes and they are bearing fruits. In other words, the changes being implemented are being made without the input of the members of the police department whom the changes will affect the most. “I watch a video “Holness said,“an a man seh but dem ya police ya a joke”. the inference being that the police did not take action as they are duty bound to do in the face of criminal conduct being committed in front of them. The inference being that taking lawful action as commensurate with the laws is tantamount to being brutal. That is the intelligence level of the Jamaican Prime Minister. Remember that it was just a few days prior that that incident in May Pen occurred in which heavily armed Militia-men sent the police scurrying for cover and two officers nearly paid with their lives. And here was the nation’s chief executive addressing police officers mere days later.
‘Ten years ago yu coulnd’t turn on yu television and not see negative accounts of police pertaining to police killings, a brutal force” Holness said. ” The perception is now changing, “the perception of the brutal force is now changing I think it is a good thing.“ Holness told members that for the 151 years the JCF has been used as an instrument of brutality which has never served us well and that Jamaica has never recorded a sustainable reduction in crime and violence. The reality is that Holness’ claim is not supported by the facts. Up to and around until around the late 80’s to early 90’s crime increased in Jamaica as it did in even industrialized nations. What Holness [did not mention], was the fact that despite the lack of resources, despite the lack of Governmental-support, and in his view, the general idea that the sacrifices, of many members paying the ultimate price, and the [force is a force for bad](sic) officers have done a terrific job. The Prime Minister then went on to lay out a laundry list of political platitudes and promises, safety vests, new police stations, gyms and other basic amenities and accouterments which ought to be standard fare for the police officers.
In the end, I tuned out Andrew Holness, and came to the conclusion that when Andrew Holness tells us that he came from a two-bedroom board house in Cumberland Spanish Town, we should accept that he is a product of his environment. Not the two Bedroom house part(most of us came from even more humble beginnings), but the geography of his origin, and how it has shaped his [misunderstanding] of what actual policing is all about. Holness’ Utopian concept of the new Jamaica Constabulary Force did not include a single recognition that, not only is crime increasing, the incidents of violence have become more egregious, but the methodology and organization of the criminals have changed exponentially. The country has had a whole lot of people deported back, who have spent many many years in developed countries and have lived lives in crime and have learned how to evade police in those developed countries. I wrote about this years ago that this would inevitably pose a serious challenge to Jamaica and to local law enforcement as the level of sophistication these criminals would be employing would require a different kind of policing. Unfortunately, as I see it, the police are being watered down instead of being reinforced. Jamaica is in for a torrid time, I’m afraid.
In the end, Holness’ lengthy speech was greeted at best with less than a luke-warm smattering of applause. For the most part, members sat there in bored silence. At one stage after talking about the Mobile reserve Holness tried to force applause” well if you don’t clap for that I am happy for it,” officers obliged with about five people clapping dejectedly.
There are several videos circulating on social media and what was clear is that the Robbers were prepared to fight regardless of who intercepted them. On one particular video, several police vehicles were seen backing away from the scene. Whether this was a tactical maneuver to establish a wider perimeter is unclear. What was obvious is that not a single member of the group of an estimated eight gunmen was killed or intercepted. So it becomes a little clearer to decipher that maybe the marked police vehicles seen leaving the scene were not leaving to form a wider perimeter. If the theory is that the officers retreated and did not engage the robbers then this is a seminal moment whether Horace Chang, Andrew Holness or Antony Anderson acknowledges it or not.
Every person is free to look at the multiple videos on YouTube and form their own conclusion as to whether this is something that is getting better as the Prime Minister would have you believe. Is this the [new Force for good] that the Prime Minister is misleading the nation about? Every Jamaican has a decision to make because the choices are clear. The critical question must be this. Do you feel safer with this level of security the Prime Minister is offering you in his newly transforming police force for good? Here is my challenge to you, listen to the Prime Minister’s speech then determine for yourself whether he made mention of the numerous murders each and every day, not to mention the other acts of violence which do not readily result in death. What he is concerned about is an image, unfortunately, image cannot keep people safe.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police corporal, business owner, avid researcher, and blogger. He is also a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge.
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