Jamaica’s crime chief is rejecting recent criticism by several defence attorneys that the police have no evidence to support their claim that accused individuals, when released on bail, use the freedom to commit other crimes.

“When you talk about data, we have overwhelming data to support what we are saying. We are putting the data together,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey told the Jamaica Observer.

He said already the police in Westmoreland, at the opening of the Easter term session of the Circuit Court last Monday, furnished prosecutors with a list of 32 individuals who had all been charged with serious offences, murders topping the list, but while out on bail allegedly committed second and third offences.

“This is something that happens quite frequently, it is not just unique to Westmoreland. The triple murder in Bull Bay recently, one of the suspects is out on bail; the quadruple shooting in St Catherine on the weekend, at least two of the persons of interest were charged with murder and were out on bail. You could continue naming names,” Bailey shared.

In respect of the Westmoreland list, the Sunday Observer has learnt that 17 of the individuals were on bail for murder (first offence). Allegations are that 11 of them committed a second offence while on bail with one accused facing allegations of four counts of murder committed while on bail. Two of the accused, one of whom was originally on bail after being charged with shooting with intent and illegal possession of firearm, is now facing a double murder as a second offence. Another, who was accused of wounding with intent, allegedly committed two murders while on bail.

Yet another accused, who was charged with murder and was out on bail, is now charged with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Meanwhile, another of the accused, who was on bail after being charged with wounding with intent, shooting with intent, and illegal possession of firearm, is facing a fresh charge of committing a murder while out.

Another accused who was on bail for illegal possession of firearm allegedly committed the offences of shooting with intent and illegal possession of firearm while out, while another accused who was on bail after being charged with wounding with intent and illegal possession of firearm is facing a new allegation of murder while out.

Bailey, who went further to voice support for a proposal made by Minister of Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte regarding the wholesale denial of bail to people charged with gun and murder offences under a new Bail Act, told the Sunday Observer that there is a place for the statement made by the minister.

“The problem with us is that we have to wake up and face the realities in Jamaica. If we continue to live in denial and take this broad-brush approach to our current circumstances of crime we will never reach anywhere,” Bailey stated, arguing that individuals who are habitual criminals are not likely to veer from a criminal lifestyle when released by the courts.

“We talk about the rights of those who give up their rights by their own acts by infringing on the rights of other people and then we are now saying we must put another layer of protection for those persons whilst the victims of crime do not have that. Who is going to protect them? Who is going to protect those mothers and fathers and children?” the lawman asked.

“We, as police officers, go to the crime scenes every day. We see the pain, we see the tears, we see the agony. I can’t say how the framers should frame the law, but we know when a lot of them [accused] go out they are committing the crimes. What we are saying is that it has been established that when certain people are taken off the streets there is a reduction in crime. I will go back to the states of emergency where this was demonstrated. I am saying that, while we believe in the rights of every person, we must find a way to prevent those who continue to violate the rights of other people by using violence,” he added.

“I support the minister’s position wholeheartedly. I see it every day and it makes your heart pain. I can’t say all the things I know, but if I told you a little that I know, a lot of people would run away from this country. It is frightening,” he said.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn, QC, confirmed the presence of the list referenced by the crime chief. She said prosecutors have made particular use of the Bail Act provisions as far as it relates to accused who commit second and third offences while on bail.

“In two of the matters that came up today the allegations were that the accused who [has been] charged for murder, while on bail committed another murder. I indicated that, as far as the prosecution would be concerned, we would be opposing any granting of bail in respect of the second offence for which they were in custody if defence counsel were to apply. So, bail for the first offence for which they were in custody was extended, but they were remanded in light of the additional allegations,” the DPP noted.

She further highlighted one case in which the accused was charged and released on bail for a murder committed in October 2014. The accused, she said, was granted bail in June of 2017 but by November 2017 the same individual was charged with four counts of murder.

On Tuesday, Malahoo Forte, intimating that people charged with murder and gun-related crimes will be denied bail under an amended Bail Act as she made her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, stoked furious debate over the constitutionality of such a move.

Under the amended Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedom “any person awaiting trial and detained in custody shall be entitled to bail on reasonable conditions unless sufficient cause is shown” for keeping that person in custody.

Several members of the defence bar, including the Jamaican Bar Association, lambasted the police for making what they say are unsubstantiated claims that people charged with murder or gun offences while on bail typically re-offend. According to the association, while it “understands the societal pressure faced by the Government and the reasons motivating this approach”, it is “yet to see any real data to support the view that any significant portion of crime in Jamaica is being committed by persons who have been granted bail”.

It further argued that the current Bail Act provides an avenue for the prosecution to oppose an application for bail if it can prove that the accused would likely commit an offence while on bail.

“This is but one of many bases upon which the prosecution can oppose bail,” the association said.