Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer

Admiral Lewin

In an interesting change of position, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, the new commissioner of police, is now urging caution on any renewed push to grant additional policing powers to the military.

Specifically, the police commissioner believes it may soon not be necessary to make changes in the law to allow members of the military to act on their own, while on duty.

While conceding that the circumstances which informed his support for the change two years ago remain the same, the commissioner says he expects them to change "dramatically" within the next 12 months. Against that background, he says, these changes "would cause me to say, be cautious!"

No comment on changes

He declined to specify what these changed circumstances would constitute, reiterating only that it is hoped that before long, it would not be necessary to have the soldiers out of barracks for extended duties.

In one indication of the commissioner's trend of thought on the matter, however, he told The Gleaner, in an exclusive interview, that he hoped to substantially increase the numerical strength of the Jamaica Constabulary Force within as short a time as possible.

Two years ago, Admiral Lewin, then head of the Jamaica Defence Force, had argued for the additional powers when he appeared before a joint select committee of Parliament. The main argument of the proponents then was that there were times when soldiers would find themselves without police support and would still be expected to act as the police would in those circumstances.

The issue was magnified when soldiers posted close to Barnes Avenue in Kingston failed to respond readily, on their own, to a call to assist a family that was under siege by gunmen. By the time they eventually responded, contrary to their rules of engagement, several members of the family had been killed, causing many commentators to blame the late response of the soldiers for the deaths.

Existing rules

The military countered, however, that the existing rules did not permit the soldiers to respond on their own while on official duties and that there was no police personnel with them at the time.

The legislative proposal was not supported by the parliamentary Opposition two years ago, and the Government of the day, therefore, did not proceed with the amendment.

Now, however, Derrick Smith, the new Minister of National Security, has indicated a willingness to change his position on the matter, to provide the security forces with another tool in their fight against crime.

Pointing to the controversial Suppression of Crime Act, enacted in the 1970s and which lasted into the early 1990s, Admiral Lewin described that law as "granting soldiers (and the police) more powers than they would have been granted now". That, he said, "had its negative influences".