Police corruption in Jamaica
Police corruption has become very popular over the years and one
common form of police corruption is soliciting or accepting bribes
in exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or
other illegal activities. Another example is police officers flouting
the police code of conduct in order to secure convictions of suspects
for example, through the use of falsified evidence. More rarely, police
officers may deliberately and systematically participate in organized
crime themselves. Police officers have various opportunities to gain
personally from their status and authority as law enforcement officers
so they take advantage. Accurate information about the prevalence of
police corruption is hard
to come by, since the corrupt activities tend to happen in secret and
police organizations have little incentive to publish information about
corruption. Police officials and researchers alike have argued that in
some
countries, large-scale corruption involving the police not only exists
but can even become institutionalized. In spite of
achievements made by the government in recent years police corruption
has remained one of the main
obstacles to rapid growth and development in Jamaica. According to the
Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) they have announced the arrest and charge
of close to 50 members and civilians
since the start of the year.
They say that they are aware of police personnel who have
been extorting money from motorists in return for not prosecuting them.
Overall, 58 police personnel and civilians have been arrested on
allegations of corruption. According to the Constabulary Communication
Network (CCN), 46 people
have been charged for breaches of the Anti-Corruption Act since
January 2012. The CCN says a total of 812 cases have been reported to
the ACB
since 2012, 235 of which were received during the
month of June.When people say F*** the police they all have reasons, i
know there are police officers that carry out their duties honestly but
lets face it until proper anti corruption measures are put in place
there is still gonna be a large number of corrupt police in Jamaica
because of the greed for "MONEY".
Citizens should report any incident of corruption by calling its hotline at 1-800-CORRUPT, the Police 119 emergency number or the nearest police station.
