Of the above figure, 109 have been interdicted, a legal status that allows them to receive three-quarters of their salaries while being off work. The remaining 114 of the officers are formally suspended, meaning, in the context of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), they are not being paid.
As a ratio of the membership of the JCF, the number of police personnel interdicted/suspended, at around 2.6 per cent, could be considered small. Therefore, the fact that perhaps some of those facing charges were cited for corruption might hardly raise an eyebrow. In the context of the perception that corruption in the JCF is endemic, these figures might seem minuscule.
We, however, have another perspective. The figures, to us, are encouraging, given where the JCF is coming from.
It was not long ago that it was conventional wisdom that a policeman was allowed to be corrupt with impunity, similar to how people felt about cops and allegations against them of extra-judicial killings. On either front, change, or at least demands for, and moves towards greater accountability, is apparent.
The efforts, though, at going after the alleged corrupt officers, are more apparent and seemingly more deliberate. Admittedly, it is the junior constables - those taking petty bribes in lieu of issuing traffic tickets or being paid to drop charges - who, so far, have been mostly asked to face the music. It is noteworthy, however, that a senior officer, Superintendent Harry Daley, is now being tried in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court for allegedly extorting protection money. Mr Daley may well be proven innocent.
Anti-corruption unit
What is important, however, is this clear intent to clean up the JCF, being spearheaded by Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin and Assistant Commissioner Justin Felice, who heads the anti-corruption unit. Their efforts are worthy of applause and emulation elsewhere in the public sector.
Unfortunately, we do not sense that vigour in other places, or by other officials, except, perhaps, by the Contractor General, Greg Christie, and his crusade in respect of the Government's procurement rules.
Watchdog
Take, for example, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, whose job it is to be the watchdog over public-sector employees to ensure that they do not abuse their public positions for private enrichment. Public-sector employees are to file asset and liability statements with the commission, which would be expected to test a percentage of these filings to discover anomalies between their legitimate earnings and their assets.
It may be that the Jamaican public sector, despite the perceptions to the contrary, is pristine, or that in the six years since the agency was formally promulgated, its investigators and analysts have not encountered cases of corruption. If they have, the commission has not apparently felt it to be in the public interest to tell people about it. If, indeed, they have spoken, it has been in whispers.
Maybe it is time for the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption to give a public accounting and to defend its relevance.
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