While as a nation we must always ensure that extrajudicial killings never become a part of our custom, monitoring agencies within or outside of the security forces must themselves have some checks and balances. So, in the Jamaican context, the first question which arises is who monitors the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM)?

As citizens, we all must value our civil liberties. However, the administration and application of any monitoring organisation could have a very negative effect on the members of the police force, and by extension the military, who are now obviously in the system to maintain law and order.

While we must express intolerance of any form of extrajudicial acts or killings, we cannot create a condition where the law enforcement officers are being demoralised, demonised, or looked upon as authorised criminals and killers. It is the responsibility of the authorities to ensure that our law enforcement officers are trained and aware of when and how lethal force should be applied, and citizens should also be made aware of those rules of engagement.

Society should not be separate from its police. Indeed, they are the products of the same society. And unless we are brave enough to acknowledge that they are our police force, as well as our sons and daughters, we will be incapable of solving some of these issues of dispute.

Naturally there will, at times, be disagreements over the use of any excessive or deadly force, but it is my view that perhaps training, or the lack thereof, could result in some unwarranted shootings by security personnel, even though they have the right to defend themselves in the process of carrying out their lawful duties. Perhaps new policies need to be established and a framework developed and made clear.

In Washington, DC, between 1999-2002, these issues were raised under paragraph two of the community policing effort review and a framework of managing the use of deadly force was implemented by the then commissioner of police in Baltimore, Maryland. Emerging from those discussions they expressed the concern of the overall quality of the relationship between the communities and the police as a key issue for immediate consideration.

Fear of INDECOM

It cannot be a responsibility of any single monitoring organisation, such as INDECOM, to interfere with police on the spot investigations and operations. It also should not be seen as a body which issues threats of prosecution or to arrest law enforcement officers. For it is the view of a number of people interviewed, including members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, that the current monitoring agency, INDECOM, is and continues to be a deterrent in their efforts of fighting crime.

This forces me to ask the question: Is this even possible?

The average police officer or soldier is always under the command of a superior, consequently any monitoring organisation must find a way to investigating the public’s as well as its agency’s concerns without embarrassing the entire security force, or even those under investigation, before, after and as the due process is completed.

Yes, we may argue that without INDECOM there might have been more killings, but we need more data to support that claim. One perhaps needs to examine whether a rise in crime and murder could be a direct result of the fear of the security officers in carrying out their lawful duties, both in defending themselves and the public, because of the approach of INDECOM.

Any public threat by any monitoring agency against the Jamaica Constabulary Force or its agencies may have a negative effect on the security forces’ ability to fight crime and send mixed signals as well as make the criminals brazen in their nefarious activities.

It is my view that whether or not the low morale of the security officers could bear any relationship to the existence or method of any single monitoring agent; it has to be examined. Such data may help us to arrive at a working conclusion and perhaps create a balanced perspective.

Other side of the coin

However, one needs to ask a very troubling question, when a police officer is shot or killed in the line of duty, what is the role of INDECOM or other monitoring agencies? Perhaps someone can enlighten the author. Does anyone care? If the police see no justice for themselves or feel justice is unfair to them, just like the public, they may develop a “leave it alone” attitude and the criminals could utilise that scenario in order to create more mayhem.

To move forward, we must reconstruct INDECOM, and all monitoring organisations, in a meaningful way to enhance the development of community policing that will bring law-abiding citizens and the police closer. This is not rocket science. If the police and the community work together and develop the trust and mutual respect, void of political interference, then crime will be reduced dramatically and automatically. For our single wish is for a safer and prosperous Jamaica.

Some may not agree with the observations outlined, others may have difficulty understanding why some changes are necessary, but one thing is clear: We are missing something.

leebailey cwjamaica.com