In 2008 Jamaican Police Detective Constable Carey Lyn-Sue admitted that he had fabricated statements to secure convictions. Two weeks ago, an arrest warrant was issued for Detective Sergeant Michael Sirjue for his alleged role in fabricating a witness statement in a case involving members of the stone crusher gang and in particular a leading member Eldon Calvert. Police sources yesterday confirmed that a Montego Bay-based female detective corporal is suspected to have fabricated a witness statement in a case involving alleged Stone Crusher gang leader Eldon Calvert.
Assistant commissioner of police Élan Powell i/c crime.
The common thread in all three instances ? Detective Sergeant Michael Sirjue !!!!
Detective sergeant Sirjue reportedly supervised both the detective corporal and constable Lyn-Sue. Over the years we have heard comments and innuendos advanced from all and sundry, about how policing should be done and what ought to be done to fix our problems as it regards law enforcement in the country. In the midst of it all, no one bothers to ask the police how they feel about any of the issues which affect their lives or effectiveness on a daily basis. The inevitable conclusion it seem has always been that the police (from the poorer class) ought to be told what to do.
Even though many police officers now serving, are now twice as smart and in many instances are more educated than their political bosses, the stigma remains of the police boy wearing short pants guarding the rich man’s house. As a black man who served proudly in the JCF for a decade before I took my leave of the department, I have heard it all from the experts who told us the reason there is corruption in the force. Alleged reasons range from, because it’s largely a male dominated body, others tell us it’ largely due to the fact that it is dominated by blacks.
This single case tied together, turns all those silly notions on their heads.
Many will point to these two recently revealed instances of impropriety as a trend, of course it ‚matters not that they do not have evidence or enough information to form those opinions. Notwithstanding , three instances over a period of a few years does not a pattern make, if anything it points to the fact the that the system is working. It may be cold comfort to those whose jobs it is to pontificate to learn that police departments all over the world deal with these issues all the time. Also the reason this problem exist has nothing to do with quotas as some have suggested, there are no quotas in the JCF. This issue is all about trust or the lack thereof. We may litigate the merits and demerits of police officers perjuring themselves in order to gain convictions, those are legitimate questions which the country has every right to demand answers to. One thing is certain, is that it further erodes the meagre trust citizens have in the ability of the system to serve them in a just and fair way.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) touted to be one of , if not the premier police service in the world from time to time is forced to deal with allegations and sometimes proven instances where this happens. It is despicable and should not be tolerated , but it does speak to an underlying question of why. In the case of the NYPD there are several reasons why officers fabricate evidence, none of which has to do with a breakdown in their justice system. American Police Officers largely commit these acts to fill quotas, to remain on plum details, and in a lot of cases out of racial prejudice. (American civil liberties union)
As we look for answers to the question of what is behind officers fabricating evidence we would be well advised to look at the failure of the justice system to deliver justice to the population , to include police officers. I have written extensively about this issue and still we see criminals returned to the streets after being arrested and charged for multiple cases of murder, over and over again. On many of those occasions they immediately eliminate witnesses for the prosecution that would potentially testify against them. In a country like Jamaica where a large percentage of murder cases are built on eyewitnesses accounts the need to keep witnesses alive is of the utmost importance. Yet Jamaican Judges continue to release callous murderers onto the streets using the flimsy arguments that bail was not intended to be a punishment. One would reasonably conclude that if a jurist erred they would err on the side of caution, on the side of the aggrieved.
Not so, they argue for legal arguments long, outdated and which even the framers do not find useful in this era of multiple murders and urban terrorism. London is one of the most closely monitored cities in the world , a criminal accused of multiple murders in the United Kingdom will certainly not be released onto the streets untill the courts finds him innocent. Yet Jamaican judges continue to turn them loose quoting British Laws.
I have previously written on this subject, largely explaining that the question of extra-judicial killings, evidence fabrication, mob killings, witnesses not turning up to give evidence, lack of jurors, the rise of the don culture, and myriad other societal ills can be traced right back to the doorsteps of a malfunctioning justice system. Let me be clear this does not mean that Judges are solely the reason for all of societal ills, far from it. What I am saying is that Legislators, Judges, Prosecutors, Police, Prison officers, Defense Attorneys and all other players within the system have been colossal failures,beginning with the Legislators.
Crime will continue to increase under this Administration. The general mindset is that this party in government is a crime coddling party, there is more than ample evidence to support that theory. Police Officers are caught between a rock and a hard place in wanting to make difference in the crime Serengeti that is Jamaica, though this method cannot be condoned at least for this blogger there is at least an understanding as to its cause.