By Garwin Davis, Staff Reporter
Knight
WESTERN BUREAU:
FOLLOWING COMPLAINTS from citizens of Montego Bay regarding what they perceived as widespread police corruption, Minister of National Security and Justice K.D. Knight is urging the public to furnish information to the Police Public Complaints Authority.
"I am asking members of the public to tell what they know to the Police Complaints Authority," the Minister said in a radio interview yesterday. "If the public has information that police officers are involved in drug activities then there is a relevant body for complaints to be made to."
Mr. Knight noted that he found the allegations about the drug connections of Montego Bay police very disturbing and promised that the full extent of the law would be borne out on anyone who is found guilty.
"We will not tolerate these types of activities in the police force," the Minister said. "Even if it involves politicians, the treatment will be the same. I cover for no one."
The Minister's remarks were in reference to complaints from the public about what they see as the lavish lifestyles of some police officers in western Jamaica and their alleged association with known drug barons.
Opposition spokesperson on National Security and Justice, Derrick Smith, in a recent visit to Montego Bay, said that he was deeply concerned about reports of widespread police corruption in the second city and said that a special force should be assigned to investigate the matter. He also pointed to the Montego Bay Freeport where he noted that there were a lot of "loopholes" for drug related activities to occur.
But Assistant Commis-sioner of Police in charge of Area One in the Western Region, Linton Latty, in an interview yesterday, said that instead of engaging in rumours and allegations, an investigation should be launched by what he called "interested parties" to get to the bottom of the matter.
"As the person who is the head of the stream, I would recommend that I be investigated first," he said. "After that we can move on to other officers so we can have full transparency. This way we will be able to look at the lifestyles of officers and make a comparison with their salaries."
Mr. Latty explained that while he was not in a position to say whether or not police officers were involved in drugs, he had not seen anything that would leave him to believe that officers were engaging in lavish lifestyles. "Only a thorough and complete investigation can get to the bottom of these rumours," he emphasised.
