POLICE INVESTIGATING their colleagues in a major car stealing ring must come forward with critical evidence in relation to one of the six detainees by Wednesday.The lawyers for a police constable attached to the Half-Way Tree Police Station, who was detained for illegal possession of a stolen motor vehicle, have reportedly filed a writ demanding his release for not being charged after a month in custody.
Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle, who heard the lawyers arguments, ordered that the investigators must come forth with the evidence by this Wednesday or the policeman will be released when the case came up for mention in the Corporate Area Criminal Court on Friday.
In the meantime, the remaining policemen, who are under investigation by the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Professional Standards Branch, have also not yet been charged and remain in custody as investigators dig deeper into alleged acts of corruption by members of the police force.
INVESTIGATION ON-GOING
The six policemen were reportedly detained in connection with a major car stealing that was uncovered by senior officers of the JCF.
Commissioner of Police, Lucius Thomas yesterday said the "investigations are still going on so I can't speak to the charges yet. It will take sometime for them (investigators) to put the evidence together and then look at what charges are possible, I don't know if they are at that stage yet."
Four of the policemen were picked up in St. Mary.
A constable is now also under probe by the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) for allegedly soliciting money from a man for not prosecuting him.
Another constable, who is also attached to the Half-Way Tree Police Station, was detained in Clarendon on Thursday along with three civilians after he was found in possession of an illegal firearm and two packages containing white substances.
The investigations by the Professional Standards Branch have come as the police hierarchy intensify efforts to weed out corrupt police personnel from the force.
Commissioner Thomas, while addressing the Police Federation's annual conference in Montego Bay recently, accused members of the force of engaging in corrupt activities and contributing to the country's spiralling crime rate.
