By Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate EditorAFTER YEARS of clamouring by sections of society for an independent civilian authority to probe crimes and misconduct allegedly committed by the police, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced last Tuesday that the Government has finally agreed to its establishment, but it will be a part of a super investigative agency.
As outlined by him in Parliament, a National (Independent) Investigative Authority (NIIA), is to be set up to tackle 'crimes of an increasingly complex nature', separate from the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
He said the National (Independent) Investigative Authority contemplates the availability and use of specialised investigative skills to satisfy the complex nature of felonies which encompass corruption, extortion, extradition and financial crimes, all of which bear the stamp of a cross-border component.
BEING WELL-EQUIPPED
"Such a national investigative body must be equipped with an appropriately qualified cadre of investigators with skills that include crime scene investigations and the collecting and analysing of forensic evidence", he said. "This will also entail a pooling and harnessing of the resources that now exist in separate national entities, outside of the security forces, to boost professional competence, to effect economies of scale and sharing of information. To guarantee public confidence, the authority must be structured to provide public accountability reports to satisfy the imperative of transparency.
"It will be endowed with the required autonomy and its mandate would include the independent investigation of alleged indiscretions of members of the security forces. The public will never be satisfied that the police can investigate itself rigorously and impartially."
Among the agencies whose investigations would be conducted by the NIIA are the Electoral Advisory Committee, the National Contracts Commission, the Office of the Political Ombudsman, the various integrity commissions, and the Office of the Public Defender.
Mr. Patterson said that in addition to bringing investigators who are now assigned to other agencies into one office, persons who have retired from the Jamaica Constabulary Force as well as young professionals with the required skills would also be recruited into the authority.
Over the years there have been countless complaints and demonstrations by citizens throughout the country against police excesses, cutting across successive administrations.
In Parliament on June 23, 1999, K. D. Knight, then the Minister of National Security and Justice, addressed the problem of police excesses:
"The fact is that complaints about police excesses have been with us for a very long time. These heightened when the Suppression of Crime Act was in operation. This Act which gave increased powers to the police was introduced in the mid-1970s as a temporary measure, but its life continued uninterrupted throughout the decade of the '80s and established a culture of human rights abuses which has been difficult to eliminate."
He said his government had begun to institute a policy framework to change the culture and approach of abusive, excessive and brutal behaviour, and he went on to give details.
Recently,Police Commissioner Francis Forbes introduced a Use-of-Force Policy whereby police going out on operation are required to do a risk assessment prior to the assignment. If the risk is so high that innocent lives would be lost, the police are required to re-plan the operation.
Figures gleaned from police statistics and other sources, show that there were 3,779 fatal shootings by the police from 1982 to the third week in April 2004:
It is unclear whether the new authority will also embrace the Police Public Complaints Authority (PPCA), which hasn't been quite as efficacious as it was planned to be.
In his presentation to Parliament on April 21, Delroy Chuck, attorney-at-law and MP for St. Andrew North East, said the PPCA was understaffed, starved of resources and wrongly sited. It requested a complement of 31 investigators but had only 11 filled of the 14 posts given.
"If we are going to properly investigate police wrongdoing", Mr. Chuck said, "then adequate resources should be provided. The staff and investigators are frustrated, overworked and dissatisfied. They struggle against the odds and when they successfully put files together, send them to the DPP, and then see nothing come of the cases, they feel their work is in vain. Strong cases put together against the police come to nothing.
"If after reporting to the PPCA, there is no satisfactory closure to the cases, the faith and trust in the PPCA, and our system of justice, will diminish. Many complainants and witnesses visiting the PPCA actually believe it is an arm of the police force; its location is quite unsuitable. It is sited beside and in front of the offices of the Police Federation. Complainants and witnesses against the police attending the PPCA can see and be seen by the very officers complained against who are attending the offices of the Police Federation. We ask that the PPCA be removed from its present location as soon as possible.
"If a citizen has an altercation with a policeman, he can immediately be charged but for the policeman to be charged, the file has to go to the DPP for a ruling. The problem is that it takes forever before a charge is laid, if it is laid at all, against police officers involved in serious and open shootings and killings. Every accused person, whether police officer or not, should be dealt with equally, fairly and expeditiously."
STRENGTHEN, EXPAND
AND EMPOWER
Mr. Chuck proposed that "we strengthen, expand and empower the PPCA to control the cases against the police, from the inception to the end, including the prosecution of cases of police misconduct, shootings and killings."
He said the proposal that the PPCA prosecute police cases was already being done in Canada and other countries were likely to adopt the Canadian model.
He suggested that special prosecutors be assigned to the PPCA who would be given a fiat from the DPP, and would be answerable to the Executive Chairman of the PPCA, who, to-date, has always been a retired judge. The DPP would still have the right to terminate cases in appropriate situations, just as in any other cases in which his office has given a fiat. "However, if in police shootings and killings, we could remove the work of the OPR (Office of Professional Responsibilty) , BSI (Bureau of Special Investigations) and DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) to the PPCA, then we would have one body totally responsible for the investigation, clearing up, charging where appropriate and prosecution of polices cases. By so doing, we would have a completely, independent body to which the public can repose its trust and confidence. I urge the government and this Parliament to give this proposal immediate consideration."
NEW SYSTEM
In England and Wales, since the start of April 2004, a new Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been in operation to ensure that people's complaints against the police are handled properly. The new system is designed to raise standards, cut delays, increase public confidence and transform the way police forces handle complaints from the public.
It replaces the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) which ceased to exist on March 31, 2004, and was set up in response to concerns raised by community and complainants' groups, the Police Complaints Authority, the Home Affairs Select Committee and the police service itself.
The IPCC is run by 18 independent commissioners who, by law cannot have worked for the police. It was preceeded by a public consultation during 2000/01, a feasibility study commissioned by the Home Office and a report by the human rights and civil liberties organisation Liberty. Legislation for a new system was given Royal Assent in the Police Reform Act 2002.
With powers granted under the Police Reform Act 2002, the IPCC has the authority and resources to investigate complaints independently of the police service. Its investigators have full police powers whilst on duty and must, by law, be given access to police premises, documents and other evidence when requested. It is able to direct a police team that is investigating alleged police misconduct, as part of its new power to manage investigations.
It is able to oversee a police investigation, checking certain decisions that the police take throughout the course of the investigation, as part of its 'supervisory' role.
It has powers of inspection and powers to view data and information held by police forces about complaints. It will produce statutory guidance on complaints handling for police forces. The IPCC will identify good practice and share it with other parts of the police service to establish consistency of standards in the way complaints are handled across England and Wales. The IPCC will report and make recommendations to the Home Secretary on police practice.
