Omar Anderson, Staff Reporter
SEVERAL POLICE officers claim they have been paying heavily from their pockets to help solve crime as the Government has not been providing sufficient funds to buy intelligence.
Officers have related stories of paying informants between $1,000 and $5,000 to gather intelligence to solve criminal cases. They say that if they do not pay, they risk not solving those cases. The price, they added, is sometimes steep.
"The highest I have ever paid to an informant is when he had a death in his family and I gave him $5,000 to go towards funeral expenses," said Detective Sergeant Fitz Richards, sub-officer in charge of the Constant Spring Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).
He said informants do not necessarily demand a weekly salary, but they show up whenever they are in dire need.
"Say, it's back-to-school time, he's (informant) going to come to you and say, 'I want you to assist me to buy some books and uniform' and you have to go into your pockets," Det. Sgt. Richards told The Sunday Gleaner last week. "Just today (Friday) an informant came to me and I had to give him $1,500."
He added that years ago the Government provided what he called a small amount of money to be used for gathering intelligence. But, he added, he has not heard of that in a long while.
Chairman of the Police Federation, Inspector Michael James, confirmed recently that police officers have had to be buying information to solve their own cases because sufficient funds have not been provided by the Government.
"Majority of our members have had to be paying for intelligence out of their pockets and when they make the requests (for refunds) from their superiors, it is peanuts," he said. He added, "to buy intelligence is an expensive business."
The issue of cops paying to get information surfaced nearly two weeks ago after the Police Federation deducted $500 from the salaries of rank and file policemen and women it represents. The money, according to Inspector James, was to buy intelligence so police killers can be brought to justice.
Shirley Byfield, spokesperson in the Ministry of National Security and Justice, said in a faxed response to Sunday Gleaner queries recently, that the Government provides money under a "confidential expenditure" from which sums are used to fund intelligence gathering.
According to the fax, the police commissioner and the Police Federation are responsible for arranging the expenditure. But Inspector James said the money is insufficient.
Additionally, the fax stated that a regular imprest is given to divisional stations for expenditure at the local stations for minor maintenance needs and any other expenditure that the divisional officer determines necessary. But Inspector James said the imprest is still not sufficient to buy intelligence.
He added that he had made a recent call on behalf of the Federation that $50 million be provided to gather intelligence. The Federation had not yet received a response, he said.
