BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com Thursday, June 25, 2015
A submission, presumably originating from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) supporting additional limitations on the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), has raised concerns among members of the joint select committee (JSC) reviewing the operations of the commission.
The submission claimed that INDECOM has exhibited "overzealous actions" from inception, which has resulted in a "strained relationship" between the police and its investigators.
It said that the approach adopted by INDECOM over the years "has eroded the confidence of a critical mass of police officers, in their pursuit of hardened and violent criminals, and the conduct of criminal investigations in very serious cases, where INDECOM sidelines the police investigators by asserting its privileged position of primacy in the investigations".
"Therefore, in some instances, the actions of INDECOM have impacted negatively on criminal investigations, thereby risking the possibility of criminals escaping prosecution and possible conviction," the submission stated.
"This is primarily due to the adversarial approach taken by INDECOM investigators, in the conduct of their investigations into incidents in which the police used deadly force in the line of duty," it added.
The submission was titled "JCF Contribution to the deliberation of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament on the Proposed Oversight Mechanism for the Independent Commission of Investigations". more
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