The Never-Ending corruption within the Jamaican Constabulary Force will destroy the organization.

 

Photo : Fotosearch -https://www.fotosearch.de/CSP675/k27898038/

Photo :William W. Swor and Associates Attorneys - https://www.sworlaw.com/practice/16-racketeering/

"The worst disease in the world today is corruption, and there is a cure: transparency," quoted by Bono. Does corruption exist within the Jamaican Constabulary Force? Over the years, the Jamaican Constabulary Force has always been suspected of corruption. According to the CPI, 85% of citizens in Jamaica believe that 86% of police officers or members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are corrupt (Pike, n.d.). Is it ethical for one to take part in acts of corruption? Therefore, today’s blog post will be centered around corruption within the Jamaican Constabulary Force. While ethics is mandatory, members of the Jamaican constabulary force actively partake in corruption, which is ethically wrong. This unethical act goes against the code of ethics for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and if one is caught in this act, they should suffer the consequences that follows.

The ethical issue of law enforcement corruption has left a corporal arrested. According to a report from The Star, a corporal stationed at the Hunts Bay Police Station in Spanish Town, St. Andrew, has been arrested after being on the radar for being involved in acts of corruption. The source who had spoken to the Star requested to remain anonymous. According to the source, "The suspected police officer was walking down the street when the incident happened. It occurred at 12:05 pm." He and two other constables proceeded on the road near Nev Haven (Mclean, 2021).

Prior to the operation, the police station had received complaints about the corporal’s misdeeds, the source stated. The number of complaints concerning this corporal’s unethical behavior has increased. Consequently, a cop stated that an arrangement or sting operation was made with one of the complainants, and marked monies was transferred to the complainant, who was under strict instructions and surveillance. When the suspect, i.e., the corporal, signaled a motor vehicle that the complainant was driving in, after the vehicle came to a stop along the roadway immediately above the bridge that connects Spanish Town and Washington Boulevard, the corporal allegedly took the bribe from the complainant with the marked monies. After members of IPOB (Police’s Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau) moved in (Mclean, 2021).

The corporal was apprehended by other police officers on charges of corruption and alleged breach of the Anti-Corruption Act, according to superintendent Kirk Ricketts, commanding officer of the St. Andrew South Police Division. Nevertheless, according to information gathered by The Star, after the corporal was interviewed, the corporal was immediately taken to the Grants Pen Police Station and was placed in custody (Mclean, 2021).

What are the ethical issues in this case? First, there is a breach of the conduct of members by the book of the Rules for the Guidance and General Direction of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. According to Chapter 3, Conduct of Members, Section 3.1, it states: "Members shall display sobriety, discipline, integrity, and conformity with Force policies in the execution of their duties and their conduct shall be subject to the rules and regulations thereof (Rules for the Guidance and General Direction of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, 1988). Moreover, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force have a duty and a role to uphold integrity, sobriety, and many more qualities. In this line of work, a police officer should know what is right and what is wrong. No police officer whatsoever, despite the situation, should ever collect a bribe. There is a code of ethics or acts that should guide one’s behavior. If police officers continue to collect bribes, how will this improve Jamaica? That means if an individual has a substantial amount of money, they can pay their way out of being arrested. How will corruption be stopped if this is the behavior of our police officers, who are the ones that should serve and protect, with integrity, discipline, and conformity? 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 

On the other hand, on Thursday December 10, 2020, a police constable was commended for refusing to accept a $50,000.00 JMD bribe from a man with whom he had a court case in Clarendon, Jamaica. The suspect, Glenroy Cayman, also known as "Bolo," is a farmer of Havannah Heights in Clarendon. Cayman offered $50,000.00 to the police constable to drop the case against him. According to reports, the officer quickly called Cayman’s attention to the violation and charged him with violating the Corruption Prevention Act. Superintendent Christopher Phillips of the Clarendon Police Division applauded the constable for displaying the highest level of professionalism and integrity. The Superintendent also stated that "As law enforcement professionals, we have a huge responsibility to play in improving the impression of corruption in the Jamaica Constable Force and, at large, in the country of Jamaica." Why can't the other members of the Jamaica Constable Force be like this constable here? Look at this case. The officer was offered a sum of 50,000 JMD, which is a lot of money, and the officer refused this offer. However, if it were other officers, they would have collected this bribe and dropped the charges against the suspect. Other police officers should be like this officer and have integrity, and not to be happy when a large amount of money is offered as a bribe by citizens (Mitchell, 2020).

Second, the Corporal breached the Corruption Prevention Act: According to Section 14 (1)(a) of the Corruption Prevention Act, a public servant commits an act of corruption if he corruptly solicits or accepts, whether directly or indirectly, any article or money or other benefit as a gift, favor, promise, or advantage for himself or another person in exchange for doing or failing to do any act in the performance of his public functions; (The Corruption Prevention Act, 2001), once a public servant-criminal justice professions are public servants so once a police officer accepts a bribe  for a favor or benefit for himself or another person for doing any act or omitting to do any act in the performance of his public functions; The Corruption Prevention act has been breached. Police officers are given acts to read and should know these acts by heart, so if they know these acts, why are they involved in ethical issues? So maybe these officers are not familiar with these acts? There is a word called "NO." A police officer must say no to a bribe because there is a code of ethics that must be followed. 

Third, even though the corporal was caught in a sting operation, this shows this officer doesn’t care who offers a bribe, he will just readily collect the money. The members of the Constabulary Force must feel disappointed for the behavior of one of their colleagues in this incident. It is evident that these police officers do not follow the code of ethics that one should follow.

 In Summary, while ethics is mandatory, members of the Jamaican constabulary force actively partake in corruption, which is ethically wrong. This unethical act goes against the code of ethics for the JCF, and if one is caught in this act, they should suffer the consequences that follow. The case that was discussed was about a corporal who was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe. When will this corruption stop with the members of the Jamaica Constable Force? There is a word called "NO" and the police can say "NO to a bribe". This particular corporal had breached a number of acts such as the Book of Rules for the Guidance and General Direction of the Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force Chapter 3 – Conduct of Members Section 3.1. This section states that the members of the Constabulary Force should display a level of sobriety, discipline, and integrity. However, this corporal did not adhere to any of those standards that were outlined by the act. There was also a breach of the Corruption Prevention Act Section 14 1 (a) which basically says that a public servant commits an act of corruption if they accept any money directly or indirectly as a favor for a suspect to get away from facing the consequences of their actions, and clearly this corporal accepted this bribe even though there were complaints about his misdeeds. This sting operation proved that he was involved in corruption. Guess how many brides this corporal would have collected from individuals? How will Jamaica be a better place if our public servants are part taking in acts of corruption?

Down below is a video of this same case of the corporal, Mr. Brown a youtuber shares his experience with corrupt police officers. What are your thoughts on this video? (Brown, 2021)

Video :Wayne Brown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MnHYZXrv0U&t=1s

 

References

Brown,  W. (2021, July 19). Another Hunts Bay cop arrested for allegedly taking bribe . ( weed them out IPROB). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MnHYZXrv0U&t=1s

Book of Rules for the Guidance and General Direction of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (1988) enactedhttps://www.policinglaw.info/assets/downloads/1988%C2%A0Book_of_Rules_for_the%C2%A0Guidance_and_General_Direction%C2%A0of_the%C2%A0Jamaica_Constabulary_Force.pdf

Corruption (Prevention) Act. ( 2001) enacted https://moj.gov.jm/sites/default/files/laws/The%20Corruption%20Prevention%20Act.pdf

Mclean, R. (2021, July 19). Cop arrested for allegedly taking bribe. News | Jamaica Star. http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20210719/cop-arrested-allegedly-taking-bribe

Mitchell, S. (2020, December 11). Police Constable Commended for Refusing Bribe. Jamaica Constabulary Force. https://jcf.gov.jm/police-constable-commended-for-refusing-bribe/

Pike, J. (n.d.). Jamaica - Corruption. Global Security. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/caribbean/jm-corruption.htm#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%20CPI%2C%2085%25%20of%20respondents%20in,for%20parliament%20and%2086%25%20for%20the%20police%20force.