KINGSTON, Jamaica —The Jamaica Police Federation says it has written through its attorney to Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, by letter dated November 09, giving the Government 14 days to take steps in furtherance of removing the amendment to section 5 and 70 of the Constabulary Force Act created by ZOSO.

Chairman of the Police Federation, Sergeant Raymond Wilson, in a release this evening said, “unknown to most stakeholders, the ZOSO Second Schedule, dated July 2017, amends Section 5 of the Constabulary Force Act thereby creating new punitive sanctions for officers who resign without notice in writing or permission from the Commissioner of Police. It is very unusual that such a far-reaching amendment would be placed as an appendage to an Act, which, on the face of it, had nothing to do with conditions of service of police officers.

“Prior to this amendment, a Breach of section 5 of the Constabulary Force Act attracted a fine of $20.00; currently the fine has increased to $250,000.00. The situation has been compounded by the egregious power that the court now has to imprison an officer for breach of contract without imposing a fine.

“There is also a possible breach of our members’ constitutional rights for freedom of expression when we look at the amendments to section 70 (3) of the Constabulary Force Act. These amendments not only sour the work relations but seek to muzzle the federation and tie its hands in lobbying for improved working conditions.”

Wilson also said that the Police Federation hoped, bearing in mind that ZOSO had nothing to do with (on the face of it) conditions of service, that good sense would have prevailed and the law would have been modified in accordance with section 26 of the ZOSO Act.

“However, three months have elapsed since the new conditions were imposed on police officers and no changes have been made. Consequently, the Police Federation has instructed its attorneys to give the Minister of Justice 14 days within which to amend the relevant sections of the ZOSO Act.

“In the event that this is not done, an application will be made to the court to decide whether the constitutional rights of the members have been breached or are likely to be breached by the imposition of the new unilaterally modified contract of service,” said Wilson.