LORD Toby Harris, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police Authority, last week confirmed long-held speculation here of links between Jamaican and British criminal gangs and said that the increased importation of illicit drugs into England was putting a strain on police operations there.

“We are aware of instances where a dispute in London is fought out here or a dispute here is fought out on London streets,” Harris told the Observer.

“We are aware that drugs are coming from Jamaica and arriving on London’s streets,” he said. “And the amount of heroine and cocaine which is coming in, smuggled in by ingestion, is terrifying.”

Harris and the London police chief, Sir John Stevens, were in Jamaica last week at the request of National Security Minister Peter Philips to explore additional areas of collaboration between the two police services to combat narcotics-related crimes that are threatening both countries.

Phillips, since he took over the national security portfolio last November, has maintained that the international narcotics trade was at the heart of Jamaica’s chronic crime problem. With that in mind, he has sought and received substantial resources from the British and American governments to fight the international narcotics networks that have been using Jamaica as a major transshipment port.

Last week Harris, who chairs the 23-member civilian body that oversees the London Metropolitan Police force, admitted that the increased importation of narcotics drugs into England was putting a strain on the British law enforcement system.

Said Harris: “… the volume and addictive nature of hard drugs is so serious that we have a significant proportion of crime that is a consequence of people funding their habits for hard drugs. They (drug users) usually can’t fund this habit legitimately and that is putting enormous pressure on our policing system.”

However, he added: “I don’t think it would be fair to say this is all a consequence of drugs coming from Jamaica because that’s not the only route, but it is a major route and we hope we can co-operate to reduce that flow and temper some of the crime that arises both here and in London.”

According to the British police official, while street crimes such as robberies are predominant and required the special attention of the prime minister last year, the “biggest concern” must be drug crime and violent crime in the longer term.

“It’s one of those things that is there in the background and because of the huge sums of money involved and the levels of violence, as is the case in Jamaica, is potentially very serious.”

The recent crime situation in London mirrors Kingston. Harris reported 17 murders in the British capital during the last fortnight, which, although they were not all gun- or drug-related, point to an increase in serious, organised crime and battles for territory. In addition, he said many of the murders are between gangs which could result in innocent bystanders getting hurt.

As a part of its strategy to combat the trade and use of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroine, the British government recently proposed a relaxation of the penalties for the use of cannabis (the biological name for ganja), lowering the substance from category B to C as a dangerous drug. But the law will still take its course in instances where the substance is being distributed to or used by juveniles.

Harris supports this proposal by his home secretary on the ground that in reality police rarely arrest people for using cannabis and that the police’s time could be better spent fighting the trade in more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and heroine. However, he discounts the suggestion that relaxation of the penalty for cannabis use will result in increased demand for the substance from countries like Jamaica.

“There must be millions of kids who smoke cannabis and don’t go on to other drugs,” he argued. “There are kids who smoke cannabis and go on to other drugs. My suspicion is that it is as much about their personalities than it is about cannabis.”

The British policy seems to have found favour here in Jamaica as a national commission appointed last year by Prime Minister P J Patterson has recommended that the government authorise the personal use of small quantities of ganja, and a parliamentary committee is now studying the commissioners’ recommendation.

The similarities between both countries, though, have stretched beyond the trade in hard drugs and violent murders, as the Metropolitan Police Authority, established two years ago, has had to address the incipient hostility existing between the London police and young Black males.

Although there is no racial divide in Jamaica, young men living in tough and volatile inner-city communities feel targeted by members of the constabulary and are often the victims of alleged shoot-outs with the police or, quite often, are picked up by cops and detained for questioning.

In England, young Black males are said to be four times more likely to be arrested than their White counterparts.

Said Harris: “When I became chairman, I was conscious that there were sections of the community in London who did not see the police service as a service for them. It was almost an occupying force in parts of London.

“People in some parts of London,” he continued, “did not see the police working for them due to issues around stop and search.”

Accordingly, the Police Authority, he recounted, had “stormy” meetings with young Blacks, out of which came ideas to address the problem.

The youths wanted to be treated with respect. When the police stop them they want to be given an explanation as to the purpose of the stop and search, very much the issues addressed here in the code of conduct for citizens and the police published by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Inner-city Committee.

Another problem area raised by Harris and common to both countries is deaths in police custody. To address this, he said Britain was changing its “cumbersome” police complaints system for a more independent structure.

Harris admitted that like elsewhere, there is a “level of tension and distrust” between the British police and human rights groups. Amnesty International is based in Britain.

But he reported that the British Parliament recently passed a human rights act which puts into law all the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a consequence, the police service has adopted a whole internal training process so that operational decisions are “human rights proof”.

The key principle about most human rights legislation, he explained, is that the police need to justify that in taking a particular course of action, it is “appropriate and proportionate” to the offence.

In reacting to the high level of police killings in Jamaica, the British police official said the phenomenon was almost non-existent in London.

“That may mean that you need to have more police officers who are not armed,” he argued, “but clearly I would assume that you would follow a general process which says we only use firearms if there is a real danger to life and limb.”

A few years ago, Jamaica House and Downing Street were engaged in a spat over Britain’s refusal to authorise the export of guns bought by the Jamaican police from a manufacturer in England.

Britain’s reluctance was based on the assertion that the level of killings by the Jamaican police was too high, running at an average of 140 persons annually for the last decade.

Harris noted that the British Foreign Office may be in a better position to say whether the matter has been resolved but he underlined his country’s position on the use of guns by its police force.

Said he: “We don’t support the principle of our police officers being armed on routine patrols. But we do arm officers if they are going into a situation where we think guns are in use and armed response vehicles are called out if necessary.

“Since September 11 (when terrorists attacked the United States), we have also deployed more officers carrying guns on specific security duties. There are now, for the first time, officers with guns protecting the house of Parliament, which was not something that happened in the past.”

Turning to the scope for co-operation between both countries, Harris said that there are Jamaican police officers who know suspected criminals and their backgrounds and who, while visiting Britain, have helped the English authorities to identify persons wanted in Jamaica or causing problems in Britain.

This, he suggested, could form the basis of a formal exchange programme that could thwart the thriving cross-Atlantic criminal enterprise.

Across Jamaica… Across Jamaica…

Improved health care for

Kitson Town residents

KITSON TOWN, St Catherine — A new type two health centre, costing $7.9 million will soon be constructed for residents in Kitson Town and surrounding districts in St Catherine.

Construction of the health facility is set to begin in August, following the signing and award of a contract to Contraxx Enterprise Limited by the National Contracts Commission on Tuesday, July 23.

Construction of the building, to be located on land owned by the St Catherine Parish Council near the existing health centre, will be funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, while the St Catherine Health Department will provide equipment and additional staff to maximise the services offered.

Over $511-m spent on airports

KINGSTON — Approximately $511.4 million was spent by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) in fiscal year 2001/02 to improve infrastructure at both international airports and enhance the level of service provided to airport users.

Of this amount, the Norman Manley International Airport accounted for $156.8 million and the Sangster International Airport $354.6 million.

Library hosts summer fun activities

MAY PEN, Clarendon — The Clarendon Parish Library, in keeping with its mandate to educate young persons in a recreational environment, is again hosting a range of ‘summer fun’ activities for about 1,200 children in the parish.

The ‘Summer Fun’ Programme, which commenced on July 15 at the parish library in May Pen, is being held under the theme ‘Disaster and the Environment’. It is expected to run for approximately two weeks.

Claudine Thomas, programme co-ordinator, told JIS News that the theme was chosen to improve the awareness of young persons about disasters and the impact they could have on people and the environment.

Brown’s Town market being repaired

BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — Work on the Brown’s Town market is progressing, with the rehabilitation of the facility under the government’s Parish Infrastructure Development Programme (PIDP) now 45 per cent complete.

Superintendent of roads and works for the parish, A G Hosang, told JIS News that “to date, work on the ground floor of building ‘B’ has been completed, and the area is being occupied by vendors, while work on the upper floor is near completion”.

He said that underground infrastructural work on Market Street has also been completed, and work would be undertaken shortly to repair the street that runs between the main market and the meat market.