Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterDESPITE THE legislation of the Criminal Justice Administration Act (commonly known as the Deportee Bill) more than 10 years ago, the police say their hands are tied when it comes to the monitoring of deportees.
"Nothing is in place than to know that on the arrival of the deportee an interview is done and we publish a list of them in our weekly force orders indicating to our divisional officers," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas.
Deputy Commissioner Thomas out pointed that this is inadequate, as like any other citizen the deportee has a right to change residence.
In June 2002, Commissioner of Police Francis Forbes said the police were having little success in tracking deportees as on their return to the island, they often gave false addresses.
And as the issue of the involvement of deportees in vicious crimes took the spotlight in December 2003, Deputy Commissioner Thomas said the police were exploring the use of electronic tagging as one way to keep track of deportees, acknowledging though, that this would be illegal.
"You want to use whatever means is available to you... whatever can be implemented to monitor deportees (so) the legislation will be welcomed but we have got to remember that they have rights too," he said.
But Gilbert Scott, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, told The Sunday Gleaner Friday that the Government has not given much thought to the use of electronic ankle bracelets.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES
"There is no provision in current legislation for the use of electronic devices and therefore the legalities of that would have to be assessed by referring the matter to the Attorney-General," said Mr. Scott.
Dr. Carolyn Gomes, head of the human rights group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) agrees with Mr. Scott. She says the bracelets would be an infringement on deportees' rights.
"We are all for increasing the police's investigative capabilities and for them operating within the law, but in terms of that suggestion, we think it would be absolutely ineffectual and result in egregious breaches of rights," she said. The July 13 slaying of Oliver "Bubba" Smith, leader of the notorious "One Order Gang" in Spanish Town has intensified cries for the monitoring of deportees and the introduction of the monitoring device.
Smith was deported from the United States in 2002 and has reportedly been one of the main figures in the bloody feuding that has taken place in Spanish Town in the past 18 months.
It is a common belief that deportees are largely responsible for Jamaica's soaring murder rate.
Violent flare-ups in Spanish Town since JanuarySpanish Town, one of Jamaica's most historic locations, has been the scene of gang violence in recent months. Almost 30 persons have been murdered and several others injured since renewed fighting in January.
Below are some of these incidents which were published by The Gleaner and THE STAR.
July 13: ONLY TWO days after Police Commissioner Francis Forbes toured Spanish Town and announced strategies to assist in a clampdown on crime, the Spanish Town Police reported that three of its staff who were patrolling the Valdez Road area were engaged in a shoot-out with gunmen that lasted for nearly half-hour.
July 13 Reputed leader of the notorious One Order gang, Oliver 'Bubba' Smith, was allegedly shot dead by gunmen at Whitehall Avenue in St. Andrew Monday night.
His death caused a lockdown of business places in Spanish Town as gunfire erupted in the communities of Tawes Pen and Ellerslie, forcing some citizens to seek refuge at the Spanish Town Police Station.
The police confirmed that two men, believed to be cohorts of Bubba, were shot and killed in Spanish Town and an AK 47 assault rifle seized.
June 23: Two days (June 21-22) of gang fighting in the trouble spots of Job Lane and March Pen Road, resulted in the death of five persons.
February 4: On February 1 Prime Minister P.J. Patterson called on the parents of criminals to stop sheltering their sons. He was speaking during a radio broadcast after the flare-up in Spanish Town which led to the deaths of seven persons at the hands of gunmen.
February 5: Three persons were killed and four injured, on the night of Tuesday January 27, pushing the number of dead in two weeks to 12 with more than 20 injured.
February 5: Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told a news conference at Jamaica House that the violence that claimed 12 lives in three days in Spanish Town, was not the result of partisan politics. Rather, Mr. Patterson said, "It was a fight between gangs...for turf."
January 29: A curfew was imposed on embattled Spanish Town on the night of Wednesday January 28 after warring gangs crippled business and normal activity and put the St. Catherine capital under virtual siege.
Throughout the day the security forces sought to flush out members of the 'One Order' and 'Clans Man' gangs, reportedly responsible for the killing of 12 people and the injuring of 20 others since the start of the year.
The heavily-armed gang members were said to be battling to control swathes of territory in the Old Capital. Many businesses in the area shuttered their stores early as rumours of shootings and murders, and a "lockdown the town by 2 p.m." threat reportedly sent by gang leaders, raced through the embattled former capital, which was already on edge after the deaths of three persons on the Tuesday night.
January 28: Terror reigned in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, again Tuesday night as rival gangs opened fire at each other, forcing commuters to scamper for cover and operators of businesses to pull down their shutters.
Two persons were shot dead and one shot and injured, bringing the death toll in the Old Capital to 12 in the last two weeks. Ten others have been shot and injured.
January 26:
Violence which has been plaguing Spanish Town, central St. Catherine, since the start of the year, continued on Saturday night (January 24) when four persons were killed by gunmen, who wounded a fifth.
