Assault on praedial larceny

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

On the day a seminar was taking place at the Police Officers' Club in St Andrew to sensitise members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and Island Special Constabulary Force, in the neighbouring parish of St Catherine, a man described as a habitual offender was given a custodial sentence for stealing oranges.

Alfred Williams, a 55-year-old labourer of Lime Walk, Bog Walk, was sentenced to two years at hard labour when he faced the judge in the Linstead Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, December 14, after being held in an orange field with six dozen oranges. Police sources told The Gleaner that this was the longest sentence for Williams, who recently served a six-month sentence on a similar charge. Prior to this, he had been let off with warnings, and in some cases, bound over on praedial larceny charges.

Meanwhile, Camille Beckford of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) used the seminar to clear the air on a number of issues which have plagued the Agricultural Produce Receipt Book since its inception. Critics have questioned the practicality of the system where, for instance, persons travelling with a substantial amount of agricultural produce they were given are stopped by the police.

The JAS executive explained that in such a case, the farmer still has an obligation to issue a receipt in order to ensure the legitimacy of the produce, However, he/she is required to write clearly at the 'Sum of' section of the receipt 'Complimentary, No charge'. This is especially important in light of the fact that under Section 37(a) of the Agricultural Produce Act, the maximum fine if convicted of travelling with agricultural produce without a produce receipt is a whopping $250,000. This is up from the previous $1,000.

Buyer's responsibility

Where a person is prosecuted for purchasing agricultural produce without a licence or carrying same on any waterway or public road without the requisite receipt, the burden of proof that he/she received it as a gift, or purchased such produce for private consumption and without any intention to deal in it shall be on the purchaser.

For this reason, all persons who are in the business of either buying or selling should use the receipt book, the basic purpose of which is to give the police substantial evidence to investigate or verify the legitimacy of farmers, or to apprehend praedial thieves. The receipt is in triplicate, the first of which the farmer gives to the purchaser, retaining one in the file, with the other to be used for his/her business file.

As police officers voiced concerns about the practical application of the system, Beckford reminded the public that the receipt book was only a tool in the fight against praedial larceny and should not be viewed as a solution to the problem.

Some of the concerns raised included questions about the problem of illiterate farmers issuing receipts, the possibility of collusion between dishonest farmers and thieves in issuing bogus receipts, as well as establishing the quantity of goods that would warrant prosecution.

Electronic component

However, the renewed thrust to 'sell' the receipt system has been strengthened by an electronic component which sees all relevant information about farmers and their produce, including location of farm and quantity and type of produce, being stored in the Rural Agricultural Development Authority's Agriculture Business Information System (ABIS).

In seeking to verify a claim, officers will call Police Control where personnel can access the Web-based system to cross-check information, which is relayed to the investigating cop.

The ABIS component is being promoted as a lynchpin of the fight against the multibillion-dollar praedial larceny scheme, and the buy-in and understanding of its use and application by members of the police force is absolutely vital to its success.

Meanwhile, praedial larceny prevention coordinator, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Dunn, is pressing ahead with the strengthening of existing laws to make them more of a deterrent. He told the seminar that surveys had found that thieves did consider the penalties when contemplating praedial larceny, weighing them against the risks.

Efforts are now far advanced to get all the laws governing praedial larceny incorporated under one act in order to streamline policing and prosecutorial measures for greater effectiveness.