By David Williams,
Freelance Writer
DENMARK'S DEPUTY Chief Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Peter Leth, says all cases of police shootings and even cases where police simply draw their firearms against Danish civilians, are thoroughly investigated using strict guidelines to ensure impartiality.
"If a weapon is drawn or used by Danish police, a report about the incident must be filed," he told The Gleaner. "All the incidents in which a person is shot by the police are investigated by the public prosecutors, who are independent of the police force."
Dr. Leth came into the local spotlight after the results of his independent observation of autopsies on the bodies of seven young men shot dead by police on March 14 in Braeton, St. Catherine, were published by Amnesty International. He represented Amnesty and the families of those killed at Braeton, during the March 29 autopsies conducted by government pathologist Dr. Ere Seshajah.
According to Dr. Leth, the 1999 Denmark Police Annual Report recorded 256 cases where law enforcement officers either drew or used their firearms in carrying out duties in the Scandinavian country of 5 million people. The report noted that only three of these incidents resulted in persons being shot by police. None of the shootings was fatal.
"It was typically mentally unstable and armed persons who did not react to warnings and warning-shots and who constituted a threat to other persons," noted Dr. Leth, who added that the figures were reflective of a "typical year".
An Amnesty International report issued shortly after the Braeton incident said the rate of lethal police shootings in Jamaica is one of the highest in the world, with an average of 140 people killed by police each year during law enforcement operations. Figures from the Constabulary Communications Network (CCN) indicate that so far for 2001, 56 persons have been shot dead by police locally.
On the issue of autopsies, Dr. Leth told The Gleaner that Amnesty International has never done an independent observation of an autopsy in his country, "probably because it has not been needed".
He said Danish authorities pay strict attention to the integrity of autopsies, which are conducted at one of the country's three Departments of Forensic Medicine. These departments belong to the universities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense and are thus independent of the judiciary.
He noted that where there are discrepancies between an official forensic report and a second opinion report, three experts are appointed by the Danish Medico-Legal Council to review the case. The experts must not be associated with an institution that has treated the case and must not have prior knowledge of the case, he explained.
POLICE SHOOTINGS
Source Constabulary Communications Network (CCN)
Number of persons shot dead by police in Jamaica
1995 -- 131
1996 -- 148
1997 -- 149
1998 -- 145
1999 -- 151
2000 -- 140
Up to May 8, 2001 -- 56
