Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

At least one citizen per day reports being abused by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, according to the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR).

"Everyday, someone comes with a case of police brutality and most of them are credible," Nancy Anderson, secretary of the council, told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

Currently, the IJCHR is handling 34 cases of assault by the police, according to a report issued yester-day at the council's sixth annual general meeting held at the Norman Manley Law School in Mona, St. Andrew.

In addition to cases of assault, the council is also dealing with cases of killings by the police; property damage by members of the force; and, malicious prosecution or false imprisonment.

All classes abused

IJCHR member Dennis Daly said complaints of police brutality over the past few years have also come from persons in the middle and upper classes, though the poorer strata remain the highest-affected group.

"It appears to me that the police have resorted to murderin solving crime," said Daly, an attorney-at-law.

This Wednesday, the National Action Coalition, an activist organisation that speaks out against police brutality and other forms of injustices - the brainchild of Dr. Jephthah Ford - will be launched.

Ford was badly beaten by several members of a police party on April 9.

The well-known medical prac-titioner, politician and businessman, has not been able to practise since the incident, having suffered severe injuries to various parts of his body.

Public Defender Earl Witter said yesterday that one of the main reasons for this steady trend in complaints of police brutality is a lack of leadership within the force.

"The problem tends to be one of supervision by officers and sub-officers of other ranks," Witter told The Sunday Gleaner. "If they (those in authority within the force) should ever be alert to the leadership roles of their duties, then there would be fewer complaints of abuse."

Act according to law

The public defender appealed to police officers to act according to the law and their training when carrying out their duties.

A 2007 Amnesty International report on human rights in Jamaica stated that "at least 138 people were allegedly killed by police during the year (2006). Impunity for police abuses and a complete lack of accountability in the security and justice systems remained the norm."