Unwilling witnesses bug cases against cops
November 20, 2005
THE UNWILLINGNESS of witnesses to give written statements has prevented the police from solving more cases involving its own members, says head of the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI), acting Assistant Commissioner Granville Gause.
"This includes some of our own colleagues who are reluctant to give statements when requested. Instead, they consult their attorney for advice," ACP Gause told The Sunday Gleaner.
Since the inception of the BSI six years ago, at least 141 police personnel have been ruled charged by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to controversial shootings. These include the Flankers, Montego Bay, St. James incident, the Kraal, Clarendon case which is currently before the court, and the 'Braeton Seven' shooting in Portmore, St. Catherine.
BRAETON SEVEN
The BSI has investigated over 2,109 cases. Of this number, 1,107 of the files were sent to the DPP for a ruling.
The BSI records show that the DPP's office ruled in more than 900 of the cases. Some 525 were referred to the courts and 62 dealt with departmentally. There was no criminal action in 337 of the cases. The records further indicated that there were four convictions in the courts.
"While there might have been four convictions, a number of persons who were charged departmentally, ended up being dismissed from the police force," ACP Gause said.
Among the concerns expressed by the investigator, is the long delay in receiving forensic, ballistics and autopsy reports. This, he says, forces the BSI to submit files to the DPP's office with these reports outstanding.
Other concerns are the protection of crime scenes and accountability at the station level, as it relates to the issuing of firearms and ammunition to police personnel coming on and off duty.
"I am warning people who like to go to crime scenes and remove spent shells, that they are only making the situation worse. We cannot guarantee that the spent shells that these people would have presented, were taken from the crime scene," the officer said.
Number of incidents since 1999...
Author: Glenroy Sinclair
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
