Police and military personnel packing over 1,868 pounds of ganja seized in Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, during an operation led by Operation Kingfish in August. Some corrupt police get involved in the drug trade. - File

"For years and years they will sit down and operate in league with the dealers and you will never know because they don't show their wealth as our male counterparts do."

"I enlisted in the Jamaica Constabulary Force in the 1980s, and from as early as training school, we were taught to adhere to the esprit de corps code, where no matter what a member of our training squad did we were not expected to pass information on to our superiors. we were actually told that they did not like persons that gave them information on others.

"In the case where a rule was broken and the offending student constable could not be identified, the entire squad would be punished. We would beam with pride during our punishment, knowing we stood up for our colleague and the code.

Simulation exercises

"Supporting an offending student constable in his wrongful acts would create an expectation that the courtesy would be returned if required. Any member of a squad that decided to stand up for discipline and refused to support the breaking of the rules would be isolated.

"We were told that the things we are taught in training would not always correspond with the occurrences in the real world. Therefore, the simulation exercises became irrelevant and were just done to enhance our chances of getting better pass marks in our exams.

"The keeping of the station diary is one of the duties that a lot of emphasis was placed on, because this book is used to document the actions and movement of police personnel, dates and times of occurrences and properties in the possession of the police, including for safekeeping and otherwisel.

"During the tour of duty one morning, we stopped a Bedford truck, driving along the main thoroughfare in our police division towards the wharfs.

"The sub-officer sat in the car while the woman constable stood on the outside; I did the routine checks of the documents. I noticed, however, that the driver was acting suspiciously. I called the sub-officer and proceeded to search the vehicle, (which) was filled with compressed ganja.

"I asked the driver a few questions, but, realising we were 'freshers', he turned to the corporal and started to call some names that I would later learn are prominent business men in our society, even today.

"The acting corporal came and told us to wait in the car. about half an hour later, the truck drove off and the sub-officer came and sat in the car. he gave us $15,000 each, and told us that this was our baptism in the real world.

"I asked no questions, neither did my fellow junior colleague. making so much money in one night answered everything. One thing I knew was that for the acting corporal to have given us so much money, he would have kept a lot for himself. I wanted to start my own game.

Methods

"On another occasion, he demonstrated some of the methods he used when collecting money.

"After my orientation in the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), I was assigned to the department permanently. My fellow junior colleague was assigned to the general office as the firearm clerk.

"Some, now highly placed officers in the JCF, were involved in the drug-trafficking trade, the divisional detective inspector (DDI) at the time, recruited about three of us to offer protection and even physically load ganja planes or boats. By then I had done about six years in the force.

"His seniority in rank allowed him to assign a unit to us for 'special assignments' that included getting ganja through the wharves or escorting large quantities from one part of the island to another.

"I wanted to run my own show, so I became familiar with the dons. The DDI was demanding too much, and they wanted to recruit smaller players from the JCF, while maintaining their link with the inspector, knowing that he could not say anything about the 'game'. I was assigned to do the recruiting.

"The kind of money that was out there made it easy for me to influence even the most upstanding individual. however, I identified those that were morally weak and always complaining of money problems.

"These recruits were not allowed to meet the main players, therefore, I got the opportunity to take a percentage of their proceeds for myself. On most occasions, these 'recruits' would invest in flashy cars and flamboyant lifestyles. I chose to keep it simple; I did not want to draw any attention to myself.

"I created a link with my colleague in the general office and was able to supply information to the dealers. This information was sourced from the divisional commander's desk.

"Drug dealers targeted young female cops for relationships in order to get information and special favours. The female cop is considered one of the most dangerous. they work in offices for the large part, and they handle correspondence and type statements. They might not go out in the field, but when correspondence passes through certain offices, they become privy to it.

"For years and years they will sit down and operate in league with the dealers and you will never know because they don't show their wealth as our male counterparts do.

"TheForce Orders (JCF's weekly internal publication) then invited applications from personnel with over five years of service for transfer to the Narcotics Division. I applied and was successful.

"At 'Narco', corruption was rife. On one occasion, I was paid $1.8 million to have evidence removed from the storeroom to weaken the prosecution's case. The sub-officer in charge of stores was in on the act. all he had to do was put the keys down carelessly and turn a blind eye for a few hours. He was paid $300,000 for his troubles and the drug dealer walked away scotch free.

Consistent information

"Information to the narcotics division was consistent. however, not all of the spoils would be taken in. On one occasion, glucose was used to replace about 36 kilos of cocaine while we were transporting it from the western part of the island.

"I would seize ganja from persons, then take it to vendors on the corners to sell for me. in return, I would protect their business.

"The eastern part of the island by this was under the microscope. As cocaine was being sold for as low as $25,000 per kilo, it was easy to access the drug. I took sick leave and went into the area where I got the assistance of players there to get the ordinary man to sell me their stuff. this was then sold to another police who was representing some drug dealers on the western end of the island.

"On my return to work, I was given a transfer as reports had reached my superiors of my exploits, but as is the norm, this allegation could not be proven. Two weeks after my transfer, I was informed that the United States Government had revoked my visa because I was among a list of 'rogue cops' suspected of being involved in the drug trade.

"Police work is a dog-eat-dog work. Police will give information on the other to protect their own deeds. This is what a lot of officers do; they use the subordinates as scapegoats, while associating with some of the most unscrupulous persons in their division. Some of the drug dealers I have worked for are firearm holders, and most of the times they don't even do an interview.

"My transfer saw me being placed under the command of my one-time DDI, who was now a divisional commander. he was now selling firearm licences and making millions.

"I am simply trying to get my pension," he said one day, after he saw my amazement at the figure he quoted he made for the day.

"Extra-judicial killings were a feature of the JCF. the more lives you took, the higher your rating would be. Most of the cops involved in fatal shootings corroborate their statements (giving a similar account of occurrences); those who become witnesses for the prosecution are isolated.

Police shootings

"I have been a part of a number of these 'shootouts', and have had to corroborate the lies, knowing innocent lives were taken. On other occasions, firearms are found, not handed over, but instead kept as 'sweetie' - guns given to unarmed victims in police shootings.

"After one of these fatal shootings, a disagreement with my superior officer saw me being placed back in uniform. Shortly after, I was temporarily assigned to the traffic department. this is where the 'Mother of Corruption is found', but it is also the department that the hierarchy protects the most.

"The simplest of allegations in any other department gets you in trouble, but concrete evidence is required for action to be taken against traffic personnel. They own the most illegal taxis on the road, yet they prosecute others for operating illegally.

"Traffic personnel in those days would have more than one ticket book, one that would be submitted and one that would be used in his/her personal court.

"For me, the easiest way to make some money while trying to repair my tainted image, was using the wrecker service. I linked up with one and made an arrangement with them. From every vehicle that was picked up by the wrecker, I was paid $1,500. the vehicle owners would pay me an average of $10,000 to take back the tickets and return their cars. I had a wrecker on call every day, and I made thousands of dollars from my exploits. 'Robot' taxis are targeted the most, some traffic police are paid on a weekly basis to allow taxis to operate.

"I was forced to stop the practice after a force order instructed that only police wreckers must be used to remove seized vehicles. However, like everything else in the JCF, the policies were not stringent enough and private wreckers were back in use in no time."

The policeman ended his confession by stating that many police commanders fund their Christmas parties from corrupt sources.

The police officer's name, rank, and division have been withheld on request.

We welcome your reactions to this story. Send comments to editors@gleanerjm.com.