WESTERN BUREAU:
FOUR POLICEMEN from the Montego Bay Police Station have been transferred from the Area One Division, after a businessman openly accused them, in the presence of a senior officer, of collecting money from him as part of a cover-up.
But the police hierarchy have remained very tight-lipped about the situation. Even the outspoken Supt. Newton Amos, the commanding officer in charge of St. James, has flatly refused to speak on the issue. "I am not discussing it and that is what I have been saying to everyone," Supt. Amos stated yesterday.
Head of the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), Supt. James Forbes, who also refused to elaborate on the matter, said: "They are being transferred by the Commissioner of Police. That's it and nothing else."
Asked whether or not the lawmen had taken up their transfers as yet, Supt. Amos said yes. Further questioned if the allegations had been formally logged, Mr. Amos again declined to comment.
The four include two corporals and two constables, all of whom were attached to a special squad in the Montego Bay Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB). The squad was established some time last year, during the tenure of detective Dept. Supt. Roy Boyd, the former crime chief for St. James. Their duties included carrying out intelligence work, primarily within the crime-prone communities of Norwood, Glendevon and Rose Heights, as well as endeavouring to curtail crime in these areas. The men took instructions from DSP Boyd and reported directly to him.
The lawmen's transfers became effective January 1, but up to late last week they were still on duty in St. James. They are to take up transfers in Manchester, St. Catherine North and South and St. Andrew North.
Things took an ugly turn recently, when a police party, including the officers, raided the home of businessman Francis 'Deon' Young, in the upscale Montego Bay community of Westgate Hills. They seized a shotgun along with 189 cartridges and 24 live 9mm rounds. Young is facing two counts of murder in the St. James Circuit Court.
Young, 30, was taken into custody and interrogated. Investigations later revealed that Young was a licensed firearm holder, but his 9mm pistol had been seized, following a shooting incident on board the 'Sharky's' party boat in Montego Bay, last August, which left two men dead.
The law states, however, that in the case of any licensed firearm holder who is involved in any shooting matter, the firearm should be seized pending the outcome of an investigation. The shotgun was not seized at the time of the shooting.
At a press conference last Thursday, DSP Derrick Knight of the St. James police said they were considering revoking Young's licence. He said Young was released in connection with the shotgun, when he faced the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court and his attorney submitted an application for him to be freed.
