Amidst worldwide attention being directed at police for what are serious issues of abuse and violence, it is no wonder that those with ulterior motives would attach themselves to this moment like a parasite to bare skin.
There should be no protection for bad cops who betray their oaths. As a former law enforcement officer myself, I have a record of speaking out in defense of law enforcement, while at the same time, excoriating dirty, violent, and abusive cops.
There is a delicate balance to be struck between ensuring that police officers are allowed to do their jobs with the backing of the people, while ensuring that police departments and their officers are held to the strictest standards of accountability.
The two are not binary choices, but are rather the template for the rule of law in a truly democratic society.
As the spotlight is being shone on widespread racism in American policing, the world is awakening to the concept that the so-called, world’s oldest Democracy, is not so democratic as it has sold itself to be.
In Jamaica, the anti-police lobby that calls itself Jamaicans for Justice,(JFJ) the force behind the poorly designed government agency (INDECOM), which became law and was unleashed on the police in 2010, would not allow this moment to pass without adding it’s two cents.
In a Tuesday Gleaner report (JFJ) asked [Are the police special) as it lobbies the government to give powers of arrests & prosecution to INDECOM.
INDECOM’s commissioner Terrence Williams was smacked down in the local courts, after he advanced the claim that the agency had powers to investigate, arrest & prosecute.
Not satisfied, Williams went to the UK Privy Council, where he was met with the same response.
As a result, he has determined that not only will he not seek another term in office, but that he would step aside this coming July.
Before waging his court battles, Terrence Williams knew that neither he nor his minions at INDECOM had the power to arrest and prosecute under the law.
He acknowledged that the committee of Parliament had promised that- that power would be added to the agency in due course. Nevertheless, Williams went ahead with a lengthy and expensive court battle, arguing for powers he already knew he did not have.
The sadness in all of this continued push by JFJ, is that the bunch of traitors in that anti-Jamaica group is again weaponizing the public against the police right after six members of the JCF were shot down, two paying the ultimate price in service to their country.
In alleging unsubstantiated coverup between the Office Of The Director Of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the police, the lobby argued:” police officers were getting special treatment under the law because, unlike civilians, there is a different process that could take up to months before personnel is charged”.
Responding to the unsubstantiated and scurrilous claims, the DPP Paula Llewelyn shot back, quote: “Clearly JFJ, are not in possession of accurate statistics; they have not done any empirical analysis on the system,” “They have not enquired from us in relation to the status of any matter. “They are clearly totally uninformed .”
That has been the modus Operandi of this bunch of attention seekers since it’s inception by Carolyn Gomez, out of JFK came a pathetically dysfunctional agency that has caused the lives of thousands of Jamaicans.
Carolyn Gomez was disgraced and chased from the public stage but her handiwork still remains, both in JFJ and INDECOM.
These days JFJ is under the leadership of someone by the name of Rodje Malcolm, whose title is executive director.
The bodies of the slain officers are not yet cold, but surely that has never been the concern of this anti ‑Jamaican agency, and the traitors who generate hatred from under its umbrella.
I caution both political parties not to go down the road of giving INDECOM prosecutorial powers. I know of no other agency anywhere in the world that has powers to investigate and prosecute its own cases.
It is a dangerous road that will lead to mega abuse as we have seen demonstrated by Terrence Williams. Williams abused powers he clearly and demonstrably knew he did not possess, in order to harass and harangue police officers who were merely doing their jobs.
The law-abiding people of Jamaica will not stand idly by and allow any more of their countrymen and women to be slaughtered while [foreign money] is used to persecute their police officers.
No one wants dirty cops to continue to operate with impunity. If INDECOM believes in the strength of its cases, let it investigate and present them to the DPP.
If this administration wants all cases of criminality prosecuted with more alacrity, it needs to spend more money building more courthouses and expanding the office of DPP, & staffing them appropriately.
We have already seen what INDECOM does with unchecked powers.
The Jamaica Labor Party created INDECOM with the full acquiescence of the People’s National Party.
They better not do any more damage resulting in the loss of thousands more Jamaican lives.
Mike Beckles is a former police Detective corporal, businessman, freelance writer,
he is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com.
He’s also a contributor to several websites.
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