KINGSTON, Jamaica — Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), Terrence Williams, will respond to questions from the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of the House of Representatives, at Gordon House this morning.

Williams has been Commissioner for INDECOM since it was established in July 2010, after parliament approved the Independent Commission of Investigations Act, which removed the authority for the security forces to investigate themselves.

However, there have been differences between the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and INDECOM since, over INDECOM’s handling of its investigations into confrontations between the security forces and INDECOM.

At last week’s meeting of the PAAC, Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds  blamed the long-standing tension between the JCF and INDECOM mainly on Commissioner Williams.

“They can’t come to any agreement that is going to bind INDECOM unless he agrees to it. So it is not disingenuous of me to say that it is a good relationship, although there are several issues on the ground. It’s how INDECOM operates, not the law, but how some persons in INDECOM, more so the commissioner, applies his remit,” ACP Hinds told the parliamentary committee.

In July, Williams told the PAAC that some members of the JCF had become “accustomed to impunity”, but cautioned those days had come to an end.

That was in response to a concern raised by some members of the committee that the police were not pursuing cases “diligently”, because of their perception that INDECOM was “wielding a big stick” over their heads.

Williams argued that police personnel who had become accustomed to bad practices would be uncomfortable with robust oversight. However, he said the question of police personnel not doing their jobs, because of the work of INDECOM should be placed squarely before the leadership of the JCF.

However, Williams noted that many of the issues that once caused strained relations between the JCF and INDECOM were now being addressed.

Former Ministers of Justice and National Security, Mark Golding and Peter Bunting, last year raised the issue of an oversight board for INDECOM, during a joint select committee review of INDECOM’s performance over its first five years in existence.

Balford Henry