JCF shaken
Published:Thursday | March 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Cases brought against lawmen weakening morale of force
Keisha Hill, Gleaner Writer
Recent allegations of impropriety involving members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have proven to be an embarrassment to their colleagues who say the incidents have "rocked the foundations of the force".
Declaring that the incidents have affected the morale of the force's members, Karl Angell, director of communications for the JCF, said yesterday that two early cases in 2011 have had a very strong effect on members.
"I have been out especially at the JPA (Jamaica Police Academy) and doing lectures to student constables and police officers in training," Angell told participants in a Gleaner Editors' Forum held at the newspaper's North Street, Kingston, offices yesterday.
Damning effect
"For the good policemen and women, it does have a really damning effect on them. They feel that they are being let down and feel that the organisation has been breached."
Recently, five policemen were taken into custody following allegations in which the victim was reportedly held at gunpoint and then sexually assaulted by the lawmen during a raid at a nightclub in Dam Head, St Catherine, on February 16.
Also in February, three police constables were charged with abduction and rape following an incident which took place in Portmore, St Catherine, last July.
The decision to charge the three constables was made by the director of public prosecutions after members of the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) completed its investigations and prepared the case files which were then submitted for a ruling.
Another constable was also charged recently with assault with intent to rape. That charge relates to an incident which also took place in February in Elletson Flats, St Andrew.
Divisional Detective Inspector Webster Francis, who has direct responsibility for day-to-day supervision of investigations and operations of the Divisional Case Registry at CISOCA, said every report involving members of the JCF is a blow to the morale of force's members.
"We see ourselves standing for certain things," Francis said. " When we do get these reports, we do not feel happy about them. What they seek to do is to strengthen our resolve to deal with these matters in a sense where there can be no doubt that we are against this sort of behaviour - any form of behaviour that seeks to paint the organisation in a bad light."
Meanwhile, Angell said he has been asked by Police Commissioner Owen Ellington to speak with members of the force in the divisions in which the February incidents occurred.
"We try, we accept responsibility and we investigate," Angell said. "By talking to them and getting the feedback, what I am telling you is what the members are feeling since these incidents occurred."