NINE MEMBERS of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), detained since Tuesday, are now being questioned in connection with various acts of alleged corruption, as Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas intensifies his drive to rid the force of rogue cops.
Four of the policemen were picked up in St. Mary. A police constable attached to the Portland Division is now being probed by the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI), following allegations that he solicited money from a man in order not to prosecute.
JAILED
Reports are that six of the policemen who have been jailed, were picked up in connection with a major stolen motor vehicle ring which was uncovered by senior officers.
It is alleged that four of the lawmen were implicated following the apprehension of two of their colleagues.
A third constable, who is attached to the Half-Way Tree Police Station was arrested yesterday along with three civilians in Clarendon. Deputy Superintendent Selvin Haye, the Crime Officer in charge of the Clarendon Division, said the constable was driving his private Honda motor car when he was apprehended.
He was reportedly found with his service pistol and 11 extra rounds including five M-16 rounds. He was also found with an illegal firearm and two packages with substance resembling cocaine.
"We are not going to standby and allow police to carry out criminal acts in Clarendon and turn a blind eye to it," said DSP Haye.
The arrest of the policemen comes two weeks after Commissioner Thomas made a stunning revelation that criminality was rampant in the JCF. He charged that it was not only rank and file personnel but that it goes as far up as the officer corp.
Mr. Thomas, who was speaking at the Police Federation's 62nd annual general conference on May 31 in Montego Bay, St. James, charged that police were selling ammunition to criminals and that some were even using the service vehicles to transport illegal drugs.
