Police have seized 300 firearms believed to have been issued to shady characters and are investigating six former commanding officers at the height of an islandwide probe into the corrupt issuing of gun licences, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

The implicated officers have all been relegated to the Inspection Branch, a division of the constabulary referred to as "Never Never Land" where cops who are suspected of breaching force regulations are sent to be forgotten in the system, Sunday Observer sources said.

One of the officers has been slapped with two charges by the Police Services Commission (PSC) and has since appeared before the Commission to answer the charges, but the matter has been adjourned for later this month. A second has applied for "early retirement".

If the charges are proven, the two options of sentencing open to the PSC are to boot the guilty cops out of the force by dishonourable discharge, or hand down the more lenient penalty of requesting that they retire in the public interest.
Police sources say one of the six suspected officers is a victim of circumstances and has been innocently ensnared in the illegal gun licence scam.

FORBES. ordered audit of licensed firearms

The officer, who senior police sources described as "a clean cop", is said to have "innocently fell into a trap" by "signing documents for gun licences without verifying the authenticity of the reports turned in by the investigating sergeant".

Lucius Thomas, the deputy commissioner in charge of crime, said he could not confirm if all the officers were being investigated for the alleged implications, or if any of them was currently before the PSC. "What I do know, and it is well documented already, is that investigations are being currently conducted at two divisions, St Andrew North and St Andrew South, regarding the issuing of gun licences to questionable characters," he told the Sunday Observer.

According to our sources, one of the cases of corruption was so blatant that Commissioner Francis Forbes was forced to recommend to the PSC that the officer be immediately dismissed from the constabulary.

Sources told the Sunday Observer that an islandwide audit of gun licences, which had been ordered by Forbes, with special focus on St Andrew North and South St Andrew, had found that more than 200 gun licences and permits were issued by the St Andrew South police during 2003. Some applicants used fictitious addresses and in most cases licences were approved within a fortnight after applications were made, hardly enough time to complete detailed character checks.

"At Constant Spring they (auditors) discovered that some of the applications were approved on the very same day they were submitted to the police, while in other cases, the purchaser's permit to buy the guns were approved before the applications were granted," said a senior police officer who requested anonymity. "Now, if this is not corruption of the highest nature, I don't know what is. And you are aware that the commissioner will not tolerate things like this to happen in the force."

In St Andrew North, the auditors found a multiplicity of irregularities in issuing and approving gun licences and permits between 1999 and 2000. The commissioner of police recalled the audit last year after it was discovered that certain names which were granted licences in the St Andrew South Division were also granted licences in St Andrew North.

In an earlier interview with the Sunday Observer, Forbes said a specific investigation was done in the St Andrew North Division where there were allegations of rampant corruption in the issuance of gun licences. He said investigators had dealt with 14 cases where guns were issued to persons who did not meet the criteria as laid down by law.

Forbes has focused the searchlight on a number of corrupt cases, including one where a licence was granted in the St Andrew South Division to a man in Western Jamaica who was recently deported from England. In another case, a licence was granted in Constant Spring to an ex-convict who, after he applied for the licence, was advised to get his friend's fingerprints taken for processing by the Criminal Record Office (CRO) instead of his, a fraudulent way to subvert the CRO findings that he has a criminal record. A fortnight ago, senior investigators visited Montego Bay and seized the gun from the ex-convict.

Of the 300 firearms seized, police sources said that 47 belonged to persons in Western Jamaica.

The approval of a gun licence can take anywhere between six and 18 months, as proper procedures must be followed by the commanding officer of the parish who is the appropriate issuing authority.

The procedure includes completing an application form which must be accompanied by an official receipt from the collector of taxes as proof of payment of the appropriate licences fee. The form, accompanied by three passport size photographs certified by a justice of the peace, and two recommendations, are sent to the superintendent of the parish. Investigations are carried out to verify the need to have a firearm, the applicant's character and temperament. This includes interviewing neighbours and friends. The investigating officer must also be satisfied that the applicant has a safe place to lock away the firearm. Fingerprint, narcotics and special branch clearance as well as a report are sent to the superintendent, either recommending or refusing the application. In either case, the superintendent must interview the applicant to make a decision.

The superintendent has the last word. He may either refuse or approve the application.

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