Howard Campbell, Gleaner WriterTELEVISION VIEWERS who watched the dramatic footage of police officers apprehending a man at Gore Terrace in St. Andrew on January 16, must have thought it was a scene from Cops, the popular American television show.
The incident involved members of the Professional Standards Branch (PSB) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) arresting a colleague, Corporal Richard Simpson, a reputed rogue cop also known as 'Pampers'.
Corporal Simpson was allegedly accepting a payment from a taxi operator who had been operating with an illegal licence. The police say Simpson told the man that he would have to pay him (Simpson) $10,000 to recover his documents.
FOILED TRANSACTION
The taxi operator reported his dilemma to the police who foiled the transaction one day later. Corporal Simpson, who accidentally shot himself in the groin during the fracas, has since been charged for breaching the Crime Prevention Act, resisting arrest, malicious destruction of property, assault and threatening a Crown witness.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Novelette Grant is head of the PSB. Last week, she said Corporal Simpson had been under investigation for some time.
"What we heard made us become very interested in him, so we started our surveillance because all the things that were coming to our attention suggested that he was misconducting himself," ACP Grant told The Sunday Gleaner.
CASES OF CORRUPT CONDUCT
Of the 37 cases before the PSB, 27 are for breaching the Corruption Prevention Act. Twenty-five of the cases of corrupt conduct involve 25 constables; 10 corporals, two sergeants and one district constable.
Two of those held have resigned from the JCF, while one was convicted for six months for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prior to Corporal Simpson's arrest, Christopher Burton and Andrew Freeman, two constables attached to the Hunts Bay station in St. Andrew, were arrested and charged in November for demanding money from a civilian on Hagley Park Road. That case is before the courts.
Like the Corporal Simpson case, Burton and Freeman were reported by a civilian who was allegedly targeted by the police. Superintendent Dathan Henry of the PSB says while there was an initial reluctance by 'victims' to come forward, that has changed considerably.
"They are coming forward and making more reports to the branch. I think people are more confident in us," he said.
Once the PSB completes its investigation, the files are sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions who ultimately makes a ruling. ACP Grant says most cases are not speedily resolved.
"The court system is not like television where everything is solved in one hour," she said. "The reality is that the people have a right to their defence and the process provides for them so when they are brought before the court, they have prepared for that defence."
