Minister of National Security Peter Bunting has scoffed at his critics who say he was engaged in more talk than action over the first 100 days of his tenure.

According to Bunting, while he took on the mantle of evangelist of sorts over the period – preaching anti-crime sermons to Jamaicans – the decrease in crime recorded recently is an indicator of his success.

“That is a fact and I don’t apologise that I have been talking a lot,” Bunting told The Sunday Gleaner.

Added Bunting: “I am convinced that this can be done by policing along with buying and winning over the broader society, so I make no apology for meeting with the citizens … .”

Bunting said that the way to proceed is to challenge the subculture of violence.

“Our violence comes not only from gangs and criminal groups; we also have a significant component of domestic violence which would never be prevented by conventional policing alone, we need the entire community to be involved.”

The national security minister conceded readily that life has not been easy over the past three months.

“It’s been a very intense 100 days. January was a very bad month from the perspective of murders; literally from the day I was sworn in, I had to grapple with that.”

challenging period

But for Bunting, there are indications that this most challenging period has passed.

“By the end of the quarter, the results we are seeing is that the murder rate for the period came in significantly lower than the previous quarter,” said Bunting as he noted that March was the month with the lowest number of murders over the past nine years.

“Many strategies were responsible for that,” declared Bunting.

He cited heavy deployment in the St Catherine Northern division (Greater Spanish Town) and the establishment of a task force to combat the lotto scam in St James.

“That was where the majority of murders were taking place and we have seen substantial reduction based on those two initiatives,” the minister said

Bunting also referred to a third initiative. “I believe the anti-gang media campaign that has been running over the last six weeks and, hopefully, the combination of the three initiatives will directly impact on the reduction in murders.

“We have developed a 2012 National Security Policy. There was no equivalent during the JLP administration and we have completed the first stage of that,” Bunting disclosed.

Asserting that his team was in the process of implementing recommendations out of that strategy, Bunting cited the creation of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Task Force.

“That as you know is an agency that is going to tackle the profits of crime and corruption issues and to look at kingpins and facilitators.”

Source: Jamaica-Gleaner.com
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120415/lead/lead51.html

A shortage of detectives in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been leading many investigators, on a daily basis, to pick specific cases to give priority attention.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green, who made the admission yesterday, said this was a “tough” call for investigators that could significantly affect the entire law-enforcement process.

In addition, Green, who is in charge of the JCF’s homicide investigation strategy, said the shortage of detectives create “grey areas where some things will get done, but not to a suitable standard”.

Said Green: “Because you can’t do everything, you will do some and ignore others. Even the best detective has to decide on a daily basis what they are going to prioritise and what they are not going to do and that’s a tough decision for law enforcement,” he said.

“That then impacts on many things. It impacts on other cases before the court, it impacts on other investigations and then there are the demands that come in on a daily basis,” he added.

Under JCF policy, the full cadre of detectives should be 15 per cent of its members.

However, statistics provided by Green show that there were 886 detectives in the force up to March this year, just 10 per cent of the 8,814 members at the time.

While he could not provide more up-to-date figures, Green said: “We are not much better than that now … we are still way short of the number of detectives we should have.”

The fall-off in major crimes, which started in June last year and continued this year, has provided some measure of relief for police investigators who have been grappling with an increase in almost every category of serious crimes in recent years.

In an attempt to ease the shortage of detectives, the JCF devised a plan to train at least 200 investigators each year, starting in 2008.

However, except for last year when 213 detectives were trained, Green said the JCF has failed to meet its target.

The statistics provided by Green show that no detectives were trained in the first year of the plan, while 110 were trained in 2009. Since the start of the year, the JCF has trained 102 detectives.

“We are training them to the required standards, but we have not been able to train them in sufficient numbers,” he emphasised.

The assistant commissioner blamed the less-than-expected numbers on poor facilities and the volume of activities at the Police Training Academy in Twickenham Park, St Catherine.

“There is a lot of demand for the limited resources (at the academy),” he explained.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com

DURING the month of January 2011, the joint police/military taskforce conducted 619 operations including raids, searches, vehicle check points, curfews and cordons and searches.

Seven hundred persons were detained and processed by detectives from several police divisions across the island. Of these 700 persons, 99 were arrested including 11 persons wanted by the police for various crimes. The other persons arrested are being interviewed.

Eleven illegal guns and 172 rounds of assorted ammunition were seized by members of the taskforce during their various operations in January.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/

Rev Al on gun charge – Clergyman in trouble for his missing licensed firearm

NEARLY EIGHT months after he was charged with perverting the course of justice and harbouring a fugitive, head of the Fellowship Tabernacle Church, the Reverend Al Miller, is in trouble again with the police.

“This time he has been charged in connection with the disappearance of his licensed firearm,” a senior member of the Criminal Investigation Branch confirmed on Friday.

The officer’s statement was further confirmed by a member of the St Andrew North Police Division, who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner on terms of anonymity.

“He is scheduled to appear before the court this week,” the member of the St Andrew North Police Division told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

While the police remained tight-lipped about the details of the incident, it is alleged that about two weeks ago, in the Shortwood Road area of St Andrew, the well-known pastor parked his vehicle, and on his return, discovered that a pouch with his firearm was missing.

“I was standing just metres away from the vehicle when it happened,” Miller told The Sunday Gleaner. He subsequently reported the theft to the police.

He has been a licensed firearm holder from the early 1990s, he said.

Read full article at jamaica-gleaner.com here

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110206/lead/lead1.html

‘No, not me !’ National security minister scuttles personal lie-detector test

A WEEK after announcing his government’s commitment to mandatory polygraph tests for all holders of sensitive posts in the public sector in the name of probity, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson seems unwilling to take the test himself.

In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Wednesday, Nelson said he was not averse to the idea of taking the test but shut down the proposal when our news team asked if he would lead by example and take a polygraph test.

“I’m not saying to you that it is my intention to do it, but I am saying to you that I would have no aversion,” Nelson said.

When pressed for clarification and specifically whether he would do it, the national security minister, who conceded that his post was a sensitive one, went into evasive mode.

“No, you’re going a little bit too far now. You asked me if I would have any aversion and I tell you no. That is where I stop. I am not going down that road with you. I am going to bring this conversation to an end,” said an apparently irritated Nelson.

Source: the Gleaner. Read full story here –
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110206/news/news2.html

Brady promises to appear but won’t talk at enquiry

Harold Brady has sent yet another scorching letter to the Manatt-Dudus commission of enquiry ahead of today’s face-off, informing them that he will be attending the meeting simply out of courtesy.

The attorney, who helped the governing Jamaica Labour Party engage the services of United States law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips during its ill-fated attempt to stave of a diplomatic row which ensued as a result of an extradition request for accused drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court last week.

The commission said it had received the court documents and would deal with them today.

“We refer to yesterday’s (Friday’s) proceedings and confirm that the commission was informed by affidavit and notice of objection that our client, Mr Harold Brady, would not be testifying at these proceedings,” stated law firm Henlin, Gibson, Henlin in the letter sent to the commission on Friday.

The law firm noted that the commission had wished for time to consider the documentation and said it would reconvene today after having done so.

“As a courtesy to the commission, the undersigned will attend the commission meeting on Monday, January 24, but, for the avoidance of doubt and so as not to be accused of wasting time, we wish to record that our client’s position is one that will not change.”

Henlin added: “Furthermore, we consider the matter of his refusal to testify and his reasons for so doing to be a matter between himself and the commission alone.”

Accordingly, Henlin served notice that it would not be engaging in any legal argument with any other attorneys appearing for any other witness.

On Thursday, Patrick Bailey, the lawyer representing former state minister in the foreign affairs ministry, Dr Ronald Robinson, served notice that he would be asking questions today.

Robinson was the only government minister to quit in the midst of the turmoil in which Jamaicans called for the resignations of Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne and Solicitor General Douglas Leys.

Source: jamaica-gleaner.com

No retreat! Police to pursue criminals

Saturday January 22, 2011

THE POLICE High Command has reacted strongly to what it describes as two particularly barbaric incidents perpetrated by criminals in St Catherine and St Andrew over the past 24 hours.

At the same time, investigators have released the names of persons of interest in relation to one of the incidents: the murder of five persons in Portsmouth in Portmore, St Catherine.

Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington said the incidents represent a clear statement of intent by criminal elements that they are willing to test the resolve, determination, and capabilities of the police in maintaining law and order.

“I am issuing a warning to these criminals that their attempts to unsettle the police in the conduct of their lawful duties will be met with stern resistance,” declared Ellington in a statement late yesterday.

Read full story at the Gleaner here: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110122/lead/lead32.html

Owen Ellington orders audit of police equipment

The police commissioner, Owen Ellington has ordered an immediate audit of all police equipment issued to persons who have left the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in the last five years.

The Commissioner gave the directive out of concern that police equipment issued to persons no longer with the JCF have been recovered in operations targeting members of the criminal underworld.

He says this situation is unacceptable as it seriously compromises the security of police personnel and members of the public.

Read full story at go-jamaica.com here: http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=25881

ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Leslie Green is to head an investigation into “serious” allegations made by a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) activist against Energy Minister James Robertson.

Green, who heads the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), was appointed by Commissioner Owen Ellington to lead the probe, according to a release issued yesterday.

“The police have interviewed the complainant and a statement has been taken. Witness protection measures have been offered and appropriate steps taken to ensure the safety of the individual,” said the release.

An appeal is being made for persons with information on the incidents/allegations to contact the police.

The probe follows damning allegations made by Ian Johnson against Robertson in court documents in the United States where he is seeking political asylum.

Robertson has, through his lawyer, dismissed the allegations. The JLP has said in the meantime that the allegations were designed by political opponents as a wider effort to topple the Government.

Meanwhile, the PNP has called on Prime Minister Bruce Golding to relieve James of his ministerial duties, pending the outcome of the probe.

Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com

Special Corporal Jermaine Cummings’ Island Special Constabulary Force batchmates of 1998, along with the ISCF Association, were among the mourners who paid tribute to their fallen comrade at yesterday’s funeral, but it was the remembrance by his son that evoked the greatest emotional outburst.

“Daddy, I love you and you served your country well. I love you, my daddy. My daddy, I love you so much,” said the preteen, whose name was withheld, moving the congregation to tears.

On a warm Sunday afternoon in Kingston, family members grieved openly, as one of the special corporal’s sisters broke down at the end of the service.

Read fuill Gleaner story here: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100823/lead/lead2.html