Residents lobby to bar cops from bars

WESTERN BUREAU:The daily sighting of police service vehicles parked at bars is cause for concern for western Jamaica residents who complain that many members of the police force are under the influence of alcohol while on duty.

The upshot is that police judgement could be badly affected, making law enforcers more susceptible to displays of unprofessional conduct and improper and dangerous discharge of their firearms.

However, it is not only at private rum bars where policemen drink. Checks made by Western Focus across the region revealed that bars are operational at the Freeport and Montego Hills police stations in St James and the Ramble Police Station in Hanover.

While most members of the public may find this alarming, Deputy Superintendent Marlene Daley of the Hanover Police Division told Western Focus that it was not unusual for recreational facilities to be affixed to police stations. She said that while she had not received any reports of on-duty cops patronising rum bars in her division, she vowed to investigate the allegations.

According to Section 9.8 of the JCF's Ethics and Integrity Policy, members are expected to be "operationally fit for the commencement of any rostered or on-call duty and remain so free of impairment by alcohol or any other form of drug".

Assistant commanding officer for Area One, Senior Superintendent Ezra Stewart, said he, too, was unaware of on-duty cops imbibing at bars. However, he said that he would not dismiss the residents' reports and would investigate the allegations. Stewart is urging eyewitnesses to make a formal police report.

"Once officers are caught doing this, then disciplinary action would immediately be brought against those concerned. They can be charged and brought before a court of enquiry or an orderly room, depending on the nature of the breach," said Stewart. "Drinking while on duty is unacceptable. They can even be dismissed!"

Commanding officer in charge of the Westmoreland Police Division, Superintendent Carol McKenzie, said that while he could not definitively say officers were indulging in alcoholic beverages while on duty, he had in the past received a few reports of them being seen at bars. However, he said that was not a wide-scale practice in Westmoreland.

Legal trouble

McKenzie further stated that both the bar operator and the cops in question could find themselves in trouble with the law for this behaviour.

"The proprietor of the bar would have some problems to address. It is an offence to serve liquor to an officer who is on duty. Under the Spirit Licence Act, the regulations call for the proprietor to be culpable, and if an officer is to be found on a spirit licence premises in uniform and not actually be working, then they would have to account for their conduct," he said.

In June 2008, professor of criminology at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Bernard Headley, in an interview with The Gleaner, said, "Alcoholic beverages can impair an officer's judgement, accuracy, and reflex time." At the time, he said impaired judgement could result in the use of excessive force because alcohol consumption had the potential to diminish discretion.