Assistant Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

By March 2007, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) should complete a draft document on a new witness management programme to be introduced as part of efforts to provide greater security to both civilians and police who report on corruption in the Force.

Novlette Grant, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) in charge of the Professional Standards Branch (PSB), said yesterday that she could not provide details about the operations of the programme, but noted that this would provide greater confidence on the part of both civilians and police who wished to disclose information on corrupt cops.

Speaking against the background of the confessions of a corrupt policeman, published in The Sunday Gleaner, ACP Grant supported the call for whistle-blower legislation, noting that it was difficult to get members of the force to provide information about dishonest practices by their colleagues.

Possible consequences

She said members of the force have argued that there might be consequences if they blew the whistle on their colleagues.

"If he (a policeman) is to testify against a wrongdoer, there has to be some mechanism to protect his career and protect him from victimisation," Grant told The Gleaner.

ACP Grant said while her unit had received intelligence and was currently working on a number of leads to arrest corrupt police personnel, the challenge was to produce concrete evidence to charge and convict those allegedly involved in corruption.

She stressed that it was a "painful" process, from the collection of intelligence to the compilation of evidence, to arrest a policeman or woman who was alleged to be involved in shady deals.

In the last two years, the PSB has made a number of arrests in relation to police who have breached the Corruption Prevention Act.

Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, said that while he was not averse to whistle-blower legislation, measures were now in place to protect persons who come forward with information on corrupt cops.

Protect anyone

"As it stands now, we can protect anyone who comes forward with information in relation to the JCF," he emphasised.

However, he argued that there was scope within the existing laws for the courts to act with dispatch to dispose of cases that were languishing before it. "In the meantime, there is always the risk that people who are guilty of corruption are forced to remain in the JCF and help further corrode the system," Dr. Phillips contended.

He said the Government had not shelved its plan to recruit someone from the international community with specific expertise in the area of anti-corruption to work with the police force.

Acknowledging that there was still a "very far way to go" in tackling corruption in the police force, Dr. Phillips said the Government would, in the new year, review legislation governing the operations of the Police Services Commission as it seeks to find more effective ways of dealing with issues of corrupt behaviour in the force.

"We will never as a country establish the kind of trust that we need to establish between the population and law enforcement authorities unless the public can be assured of the integrity of the law enforcement authorities," he added.