149 Jamaica rogue cops fired

KINGSTON – One hundred and forty-nine rogue cops have been removed from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in the first seven months of this year, an indication that the police anti-corruption arm has stepped up efforts to weed out bad apples.Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Felice, who is in charge of the Anti-Corruption Branch, said this was an increase over the number recorded for the corresponding period last year.A breakdown of police statistics released revealed that 105 cops were barred from re-enlisting at the end of their old contracts, 26 were retired in the public interest, while 18 were dismissed for corruption-related matters.In addition, the statistics show that another 21 police personnel were arrested and charged with breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act between January and July this year.This means that the number of dismissals from the undermanned force over the first seven months could rise if any of the 21are convicted. Felice, who has led the crusade against corruption in the force since he took office in 2007, insisted that there would be no compromise.“The force is better off without these bad officers than it is with them,” Felice told The Gleaner, adding that this would allow the good policemen and women to “get on with their duty”.He explained that police personnel, who were required to sign five-year contracts, were barred from re-enlisting whenever there was information that “they are not efficient or effective in carrying out their duty with integrity”.“If there is concern about their behaviour by the commissioner (of police), he won’t renew their contracts,” Felice pointed out.The data show that 36 police personnel – 27 from the JCF and eight from the Island Special Constabulary Force – and 19 civilians were slapped with corruption charges between January and July. Among them are one gazetted officer (from the rank of deputy superintendent up), five sergeants, four corporals, 25 constables and one district constable. Ten civilians were also charged with corrupting police personnel.(Jamaica Gleaner)