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Police open corruption hotline
Monday, January 19, 2009
DECLARING that integrity is non-negotiable, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) yesterday formally launched a toll free hotline that will guarantee anonymity to callers with information about corrupt actions of police and Customs officials.
The number - 1-800-CORRUPT (1-800-267-7878) - will be answered outside Jamaica at a Crime Stoppers International Call Centre, a feature that the police hope will give the general public, as well as the members of the JCF and Customs confidence to tell what they know.
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| Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin makes a playful gesture during conversation with Andrea Lewis, director of narcotics affairs at the United States Embassy in Kingston, at yesterday's launch of the police force's corruption hotline 1-800-CORRUPT. (Photo: Joseph Wellington) |
"One thing I had to do is to make sure that everybody will remain anonymous, and what I want too, is for people to give information but I don't want them to give their identity," head of the Police Anti-Corruption Branch, Assistant Commissioner Justine Felice, told reporters after the launch at Police Officers, Club in St Andrew.
"I am after their information and not their identity, and as such I have opted to put the answering of this telephone line off the island so nobody can corrupt this system; it's incorruptible," he added.
According to Felice, the calls will be answered by persons who have been coached in Jamaican creole. He said that if the information provided is "hot" it will be sent directly to his office or that of Commissioner of Customs Danville Walker.
Felice said that the new system is specifically unique because of its extension to the Customs Department as well as any other areas where corruption may exist.
Walker, during his address at the launch, described the hotline as an "important arrow in the JCF's quiver" in the fight against corruption.
"The commissioner [of police] and I have set our faces against those who are corrupt," said Walker. "Every crime or corruption that is committed is known by a set of persons, and if those persons are willing to come forward, then it would go a long way in assisting us in the fight against corruption."
"It is almost seen as anti-Jamaican to provide the police with information... We have to begin to turn that around," he added.
Arthur Williams, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, who formally declared the number open, described corruption as "one of the great enemies of the state".
He said that annual reports have been putting on display claims of corruption by public officials locally and beyond our shores.
"It is against this backdrop that the Government's unrelenting fight against corruption has been so high on the agenda of this administration," said Williams. "This Government has been quite vocal in its determination to uproot corruption and eradicate every seed of this scourge.
For many years, we have witnessed how members of the public have lost faith in systems and processes designed by the state to facilitate a smooth and hassle-free way of life for Jamaicans and those who operate within our shores. This loss of faith, which has become embedded in the very fabric of society, has helped to break down discipline and every level of professional and private lives. There is the lingering perception that the normal course of legitimate activity in society can be bought or sold."
He said that the administration has always acknowledged that if the State turns a blind eye on corruption, it becomes increasingly difficult to uproot. "We therefore remain steadfast in our commitment to break the back of corruption and steadfast in our resolve to strengthen anti-corruption measures," he said, and pointed to police data showing that between January and December last year, 69 persons were arrested on corruption charges. Of that number, 56 are police personnel and 13 are civilians.
A further 98 cases are currently under investigation, he said.
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