KINGSTON, Jamaica, December 4, 2009 - Some of Jamaica's police officers are said to be selling their services as bodyguards to gang members. And the country's acting top cop has put the lawmen on warning that when they're caught they will be dealt with just as any other criminal would be.
Acting Police Commissioner Owen Ellington revealed the problem of officers for hire yesterday, a day after at least two policemen - one each from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) - were allegedly caught protecting criminal elements involved in a gun battle between rival gangsters.
He said it appeared that a trend had developed in which criminal elements, who run afoul of the law in rural parishes, have been recruiting armed police personnel to accompany them to court to face the charges.
"I think because of their criminal activities, they perceive a higher than normal level of threats on their lives and so they see the need to engage security. The regrettable aspect of this is that, policemen are making themselves available to provide armed coverage for some of these individuals, and that is exposing not just them to personal injury and death, but is also threatening to cause serious reputational damage to the Jamaica Constable Force," Ellington said.
"I am therefore issuing a warning to all members - policemen, policewomen, members of the JCF, the Island Special Constabulary Force or the rural police force - to stop associating themselves with criminals and armed gangs and I am very serious about this. I want to state categorically that, as long as I am in charge, I will use every lawful means at my disposal to find those individuals and get rid of them from the JCF, on the grounds that they have lost my confidence, as Commissioner, and they have lost the moral authority to continue serving the public," he warned.
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