Justice Bertram Morrison has refused an application by Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) to quash the recommendation of the Police Service Commission (PSC) for Delroy Hewitt to be promoted from superintendent to senior superintendent.
In dismissing the application, the judge made no order as to costs.
JFJ through its attorney Richard Small, however, said that they would appeal.
The human-rights group had asked the court to find that the PSC acted unreasonably, because it refused to investigate several incidents of shootings and abuses arising from complaints allegedly made by residents against Hewitt and his team. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=40867
Senior Superintendent Delroy Hewitt JFJ Director Carolyn Gomes
Jamaica : Statistics
on Violent Crime
2001 – 2008
Reported Cases of
Murder : 10, 836
Shootings : 11,229
Rape and Carnal
Abuse: 9119
Sources : Economic
and Social Survey of
Jamaica-respective
years.
Jamaica is a small state in the northern Caribbean with a
population of approximately 2.69 million people.
1
The
state faces significant social and economic challenges with
chronic unemployment and underemployment. While the
formal economy remains in a stagnant state, the trade in
illegal drugs, arms and ammunition has remained dynamic
and achieved high levels of organization. The political
environment remains stable although the island has
experienced periods of political violence. The persistence
and even worsening of “the crime problem”, a particularly
high incidence of homicides and shootings in addition to
rape and carnal abuse, greatly threatens Jamaican national
security and the well-being of the entire population.(source) Caribbean Quarterly Vol. 42, Nos. 2 – 3.
Jamaica records one of he highest murder rates in the world !
2005- 1’674 Jamaicans reported murdered.
2008 — 1618 Jamaicans reported murdered.
2009 – 1676 Jamaicans reported murdered.
These numbers do not take into account the shootings, stabbings and other means of assault which did not readily or invariably lead to death. It does not take into account the scourge of sexual assaults on women and children by drug and alcohol crazed monsters who terrorize our nation.
They also do not reflect, perhaps an even more startling number, the number of crimes which go unreported. Many Jamaicans do not report crimes to the authorities for various reasons, to include fear for their lives, as well as some new cultural fallacies.
One reason , of the many, which may be attributed to Jamaica’s present socio-economic plight, is the continued exodus of its people to other shores, no country may succeed if the best and brightest constantly leave for greener pastures.
The world’s economy took a beating over the last few years, basically no country or region was totally unaffected, that includes the great United States of America. One of the truths about America is that whenever there is economic or other down-turn they generally look for someone to blame. That usually leads to scapegoating, they look at immigrants, blacks, Latinos,anyone who does not fit the quintessential white model they created for themselves.
The truth about America’s success however can be found 180 degrees from those stereotypical misconceptions. America’s greatness did not come from its whiteness, it came from its diversity, like a great river fed by small streams and tributaries, so too did America become great, because the best and brightest came from around the world to call America home, taking their skill, education, talents enthusiasm and energy with them.
The brain drain affected the Constabulary, as it has, most other sectors of the Jamaican economy, there are varied reasons behind the explosion of criminality in this country of 2.7 million but the massive attrition rate of good cops from the Jamaica Constabulary Force certainly has not helped the situation.
This does not mean that there are no longer any good officers in the Constabulary, far from it, there is no shortage of officers within the Constabulary who want to make a positive impact, I know, my cousin still serve and many of my former squad mates and other colleagues are still fighting the good fight.
Our country owes them a debt of gratitude for their hard work. Police Officers in Jamaica are grossly underpaid, of course the country is poor and the argument that there is no money to pay public sector workers has some legitimacy, if of course you can overlook the massive executive the PNP created to run the Country after their election victory of 2011.
If you can overlook the expensive luxury sport utility vehicles they purchased with tax payers dollars for the Prime Minister and other members of her Régime, then it is a legitimate argument.
Anyway I digress, I was never a friend of Delroy Hewitt, I went to the Mobile Reserve as a young Constable in 1983, Hewitt was a Corporal, he was an exemplary sub-officer, many cops did not particularly like Hewitt, as a sub Officer he did not particularly have the best working relationship with the men who were his juniors.
That less than pristine relationship was never because Hewitt was a bad cop, he was a disciplinarian who followed the rules, he expected those whom he supervised to do the same and when they stepped out of line, he was very quick with a Departmental summons.
Departmental summonses were handed out by sub officers for infractions committed by junior members of the Force, whom are later brought before a Gazetted Officer for trial, Penalties range from reprimand to the loss of several days pay. Many of those Courts were seen as Kangaroo courts, officers coined the term (Joe Reid) to describe the process. Don’t ask me what the term means , sufficing to say they always felt they did not get a fair hearing in those Tribunals.
Hewitt relished bringing young cops on Departmental charges o/c (orderly room). I stayed clear of Hewitt, in fact many of the things Hewitt espoused I agreed with, being well deported and comported, honesty, being on time, doing what you are supposed to do. Many dead-wood cops had a problem with those requirements, I did not, as a result Hewitt and I got along fine.
Delroy Hewitt was one of those cops who always felt that he should get additional education and he did, after work each day when other cops were out doing the regular stuff, Delroy Hewitt was on his way to classes, he was promoted Sargeant before I left the Mobile Reserve for the CIB.
I was not at all surprised to learn that Delroy Hewitt had clawed his way up the chain of Command. As someone who have been on the inside I can attest to the fact that he is of immaculate character, and deserving of whatever rank he attains.
With crime at astronomical levels, unemployment and under employment at record levels, the country’s economy in the toilet and getting worse,there are more than enough reasons for Jamaicans at home and abroad to worry deeply for our country.
In fact just recently the Chicago tribune had this to say about our country.
JAMAICA’S DEBT HURRICANE:
The Greece of the western hemisphere.
Americans concerned about the impact of public debt on the global recovery have focused — with good reason — on Greece. Closer to home, however, the tourism mecca of Jamaica illustrates the catastrophic effects of borrowing way too much, and the painful choices that follow. This saga, less familiar than Greece’s, is a lesson for lawmakers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Caribbean nation actually is in worse financial shape than Greece: Jamaica has more debt in relation to the size of its economy than any other country. It pays more in interest than any other country. It has tried to restructure its loans to stretch them out over more years, at lower interest rates, with no success. Such a move would be risky for its already nervous lenders. So Jamaica is trying to wrangle a bailout from a skeptical International Monetary Fund. Another deadline for a potential deal just came and went last week, though negotiations continue.
Jamaica is caught in a debt trap. More than half of its government spending goes to service its loans. The country can spend barely 20 percent of its budget for desperately needed health and education programs. Its infrastructure is faltering. It lacks resources to fight crime. It has a little margin to recover from natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. To set itself straight, Jamaica needs a restructuring, and a bailout with significant debt relief. No way can a small economy that has limped along with growth at less than half the global average for two decades pay back the fortune that it owes. But as with Greece, as with America, as with the state of Illinois, government leaders have balked at imposing the inevitable hardships. Saying no to favored constituents is no easier in Kingston than in Springfield.
The potential alternative is worse: Defaulting on its debt would ruin Jamaica’s prospects for many years to come: It would undermine the island’s critically important trade relations with the U.S. It would discourage badly needed foreign investment in its tourism, agriculture and mining sectors. The only thing worse than doing what Jamaica must do to live within its means would be not doing it. That hard fact is being faced to some degree by debtor nations around the world. Jamaica is an extreme example of the fate that could befall Spain, Italy, Japan or, yes, the U.S., if debt keeps piling up. The analogy only goes so far since those much-larger economies have better resources to manage their finances. Jamaica has few options, apart from beseeching the IMF.
The American “fiscal cliff” deal was good news for Jamaica, which could not afford another U.S. recession. The island’s financial stewards have taken some practical steps to depreciate the local currency and curb inflation. The broader solution, however, is as obvious and necessary in Jamaica as it is in Greece and other countries mired in debt: Reform taxes, curb pension costs, cut public payrolls. In Jamaica, that austerity-based formula has, unfairly, gotten a bad name. Critics of trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation point to Jamaica as Exhibit A of First World policies gone awry. IMF-imposed fixes more than a decade ago — after public debt had ballooned in the 1990s — made conditions worse, the critics say. What really happened, however, is that IMF fixes gave Jamaica a temporary lifeline, but government never stopped borrowing and spending. The lesson of Jamaica is not that access to credit is bad. It’s that irresponsible stewardship is bad. We’re cautiously optimistic that Jamaica’s current leaders will do better: Finance Minister Peter Phillips says his government must do whatever is necessary to reduce its out-of-control debt. Job One: Jamaica must make enough painful progress to win the confidence of the IMF, and of private lenders.
While the rest of us wait to see whether the island nation escapes its debt trap, we’ll see whether other countries learn the lesson of Jamaica: Stop digging such deep, deep holes in the beach .http://articles.chicagotribune.com
With all that obtains in Jamaica, a country with a very high misery index, one would think that any Agency dedicated to Human Rights or the civic good would have a mammoth task attending to the needs of every-day pay people.
The group which calls itself “Jamaicans For Justice” (JFJ) is headed by a pediatric Doctor Carolyn Gomes, she has received huge sums of money from foreign groups like the Inter American Commission On Human Rights, Amnesty International and others, what she has done with that money is anyone’s guess.
In case you care to know what obtains within that Criminal Rights Group, the unsubstantiated assault on the character of Delroy Hewitt is a case study of abuse of power and public trust gone awry.
Counsel for The Police services Commission had asked the court to dismiss the motion because JFJ failed to verify the complaints that Hewitt was guilty of misconduct. Richard Small Counsel for Gomes has been practicing law for a long time, he is not a cheap Attorney. In the interest of clarity and transparency it is important that donors to Genuine Human Rights Organizations such as those named above, be aware that their monies are being used to further the interest of criminals in Jamaica and the persecution of decent hard-working Police officers like Delroy Hewitt, by those who have personal vendettas against law enforcement.
It must also be said that neither donors nor the Agencies named above would support such actions in their own countries, yet the monies and support they give are being used for pursuing vendettas and unrighteous persecution of Jamaica’s law enforcement officers by Carolyn Gomes.
I suggest Delroy Hewitt get a really good legal team and take her for all she’s got.