Police Services Commission to meet on DPP's ruling THE POLICE Services Commission is to meet next week to discuss the controversy surrounding the illegal use of wire taps and the alleged involvement of senior police personnel in drug trafficking. Since the publishing of the Director of Public Prosecutions' August 3 ruling that three persons should be charged for breaching the Public Utilities Protection Act and questioned the conduct of Deputy Commissioner of Police Owen Clunie in other investigations related to drug running, the downtown Kingston office of the Police Federation has been flooded with calls from rank and file members, requesting that Clunie be removed from office, sources tell The Gleaner. Other callers have spoken in his defence. In his ruling, the DPP said Deputy Commissioner Clunie and Deputy Superintendent Terrence Sancko had effectively interfered with other investigations of possible police involvement in drug trafficking when they went to Portland in August 2000. But earlier this week Mr. Clunie wrote the Police Services Commission seeking an opportunity to tell his side of the story. He said Police Commissioner Francis Forbes was aware of his trip to Portland, and that that trip was to investigate abuses of the Witness Protection Programme. Meanwhile the executive of the Federation has denied reports of a split among its members over what should be an appropriate response to the DPP's ruling. "While the Federation is concerned over the developments affecting the leadership of the Force, we are strongly of the view that the Police Services Commission is the appropriate authority to resolve the issue," the eight executive members of the Police Federation said yesterday after meeting with the Police Services Commission. The DPP was asked last October to investigate reports of illegal wire-tapping conducted by the Roderick McGregor-led civilian Intelligence Unit. The telephone lines of several public officials, including that of Mr. Clunie, was said to have been tapped. Mr. Pantry was also asked to probe the alleged involvement of high-ranking police officers in a major drug ring which involves Jamaica, Columbia and the United States. The DPP subsequently ruled that McGregor, Suzette Gibson and Devon Francis, should be charged for breaches of the Public Utilities Protection Act. He also stated in his ruling that at present, there were not enough evidence to charge any senior police personnel in relation to drug activity.
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