MORE than a dozen lawmen charged with murder and other crimes are believed to be living abroad, far from the long arm of Jamaican law. When ex-police constable Walter Spike, accused of killing a nine-year-old in 2003, was finally arrested after being deported to Jamaica last month, human rights lobbyists Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) reacted with delight.
Their pleasure came from the fact that Spike’s capture came after he had been on the run for eight years, having fled the country after a bullet allegedly fired from his service weapon struck little Renee Lyons in the head as she played in her front yard in Majesty Gardens, popularly known as 'Back To' in Kingston. Furious residents had taken to the streets after the shooting, claiming that cops from the Hunts Bay Police Station had fired wildly on a crowded street in the depressed community as they chased a street boy who was smoking a ganja spliff, with Renee being collateral damage.
Spike’s arrest was also seen as a triumph by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), as the former constable, now officially listed as a deserter, is on a long list of cops believed to have slipped past the country’s border security over the last decade and disappeared overseas.
The Sunday Observer sought a list of wanted policemen who seemed to have fled the jurisdiction, and got a list of 16 names from the JCF. They comprised cops accused of various crimes, including murder, who are yet to be brought to book. Some of the cops in question have been on the run since 1999.
The original list named 18 policemen. However, two have been arrested and charged, with one of those cops, Constable Dale Pryce being acquitted of unlawful wounding on March 30, 2010.
Five of the remaining cops on the list are on the run after being accused of fatally shooting civilians. The others are accused of assault, wounding with intent, unlawful wounding, and breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.
Spike and ex-police constable Robert Cole — who is charged with the murders of Omar Campbell and Clifton Knight, illegal possession of a firearm and wounding with intent — are the only two who are now in custody and facing the courts.
The 16 individuals for whom warrants have been executed since their disappearance have been deemed deserters of the JCF, have resigned or have been dismissed, according to the data. The Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) has been pursuing their investigations into the disappearance of the men, but the Sunday Observer was told, aside from provision of the data, there would be no further comment on the state of the investigations from the JCF.
“The whereabouts of these policemen are unknown,” stated the document.
“Assistance has been sought from the National Intelligence Bureau in locating them. The Bureau of Special Investigations has 25 unexecuted warrants in its possession, which includes the 16 mentioned in this document.”
Despite the successes, the fact that so many cops are still in hiding, reportedly overseas, has served to dilute the JFJ’s satisfaction with the deportation and arrest of Spike.
In fact, the arrest was overshadowed by the lobby group’s complaints that the long time it took the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to hand down a ruling on the matter, may have provided Spike the opportunity to flee the island in the first place.
“After five long months, the (Office of the) Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), ruled that Mr Spike should be charged with the murder of Renee. Unfortunately, that delay allowed Spike to abscond the jurisdiction and left the family devastated and at a loss as to how to get justice,” JFJ’s head Dr Carolyn Gomes said.
The JFJ told the Sunday Observer, it still wants the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to exercise its power to hunt down policemen who have fled overseas with charges of civilian murder hanging over their heads.
JFJ says it has on record numerous cases where members of the police force have absconded while awaiting a ruling from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as to whether or not they had a case to answer in court.
“We know of at least 21 (cases) that date back to 2007, but subsequent to that we’ve had rulings in court for policemen to be charged. We believe it’s three that we’ve had so far out of the Coroners’ court where the policeman have absconded,” Gomes said.
“In fact, in one case, the court was told by another police officer that the man (accused policeman) has been away long enough to serve in the Iraq war and retire in Florida, as a returning veteran of the United States, a policeman who was charged with murder,” said the indignant human rights activist.
About six years ago, the BSI said it had implemented measures preventing police personnel under investigation from running away before the DPP has ruled on their cases.
Gomes scoffed at this and even suggested that in some cases there seemed to be collusion between the accused policemen and their colleages in the force.
“While they are waiting on a ruling, somebody slips them a note that says the (case) file looks strong or someone just sends them a little message to say: ‘Well the charges look bad for you, you know’,” she claimed, explaining how cops are sometimes given a warning and time to elude justice by fleeing the country.
The DPP traditionally has to give the go-ahead before an accused cop is taken before the courts.
But this was challenged in March this year by head of the Independent Commission of Investigations, INDECOM, Terrence Williams, who declared that it is a mere courtesy extended to the DPP, and need not always apply. Williams declared that his office, which has no such formal arrangment with the DPP, would no longer submit to the ruling of that office before pressing ahead with its cases.
He also called out the DPP for taking too long to rule on cases of police killings and therefore delaying the pursuit of justice for the victims or their relatives, and giving suspects a chance to abscond.
His indignance stemmed from the delay in the courts of a case involving Malachi Reid — the policeman accused in the 2010 Mickey Hill killing — who was also the first policeman to be detained by INDECOM since its inception last year.
When brought before the courts on February 25, the judge said the case could not proceed as the DPP had not yet ruled on it. The accused policeman was allowed to walk free, to INDECOM’s and JFJ’s dismay.
Williams, speaking at a press conference called in a bid to clear his office of any blame for the unfolding events, also provided a list of cases the DPP had taken years to rule on.
In an assault and rape case that was referred to the DPP in early 1999, INDECOM charged that no ruling was forthcoming until the case file was allegedly unearthed after an arbitrary audit 11 years later.
In several other cases, the investigative agency said rulings took several months to several years to be made.
Gomes said her office is often asked to intervene in these cases on behalf of the victim, but said that power did not reside with the JFJ but with state agents to track down policemen fleeing court cases.
“We don’t have any (power), the Office of the Director of the Public Prosecutions has a mutual assistance/legal matters treaty, which allows for extraditions. It goes both ways and if they so desire, the information could be passed to the relevant authorities overseas to ask them to search for and extradite these people. We are not aware of this ever having been done,” said Gomes.
But she is also convinced that accused police officers continue to be treated specially, instead of like any other citizens suspected of involvement in a crime.
“We are very concerned that the DPP’s office does not see itself functioning in exactly the same way in police shootings as it sees itself functioning for victims of “criminal shootings”. We think it needs to be made clear that justice is a blind virtue,” said the JFJ head.
In January this year, 40-yearold ex-special sergeant Emelio West made headlines when he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), after eluding them for several months.
West fled the island last year, after tendering his resignation, then a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He returned to the island and was caught in the ACB sting operation.
West was charged for allegedly assisting an act of corruption committed in December of 2009. Allegations are that he accepted a bribe from a businesswoman in connection with a matter being investigated by one of his colleagues.
A report was made to the ACB and an investigation was carried out. The file was then submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions who ruled that West be charged.
COPS ON THE RUN — OFFENCE
1.Ex-Cons Baldwin Bryan wanted - assault
2.Ex-Sgt Dalton Burton wanted - breaches of Corruption Prevention Act & fraudulent conversion
3.Cpl Edward Stewart wanted - wounding with intent
4.Ex-Det/Cons Murphy Levy wanted - unlawful wounding
5.Cpl Ripton Williams wanted - wounding with intent
6.Ex-Cons Rodney White wanted - unlawful wounding
7.Ex-Cons Sylvester Walcott wanted - wounding with intent
8.Ex-Cpl Wayne Jones wanted - unlawful wounding
9.Ex-Sgt Derrick Bailey wanted - fatal shooting - Richard Williams (December 2002)
10.Ex-Cons Fidel Fletcher wanted - fatal shooting - Kenneth Smith
11.Ex Cons Mark Russell wanted - fatal shooting - Ravain Thompson (July 2007)
12.Ex-Cons Morris Lee wanted - fatal shooting - Ravain Thompson (July 2007)
13.Ex-Cons Lloyd Campbell wanted - fatal shooting - George McFarlane (December 2002)
14.Ex-Dist Cons Clement Green wanted - fatal shooting - Everton Stewart (March 2003)
15.Ex-Cons Winston Graham wanted - fatal shooting - Kemar Bryan (September 2001)
CAPTURED
Ex-Cons Walter Spike charged - fatal shooting - Rene Lyons (July 2003)
Ex-Cons Robert Cole charged - murder (Omar Campbell and Clifton Knight), illegal possession of a firearm, wounding with intent.
ACQUITTED
Cons Dale Pryce unlawful wounding (acquitted on March 30, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment