THE Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) is reporting “no evidence” of a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak at lock-ups in the Corporate Area contrary to reports of infections of several defendants on trial for crimes reportedly committed by the so-called Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman gang.

The infection scare had prompted premature adjournments of the matter after concerns were raised during the second sitting of the trial on February 5. The reports of a “flare-up” at three Corporate Area lock-ups were serious enough for presiding judge Justice Dale Palmer to order that all 25 defendants in the matter be taken for medical attention. The judge further ordered that all defendants in the facilities which were suspect should be moved elsewhere for the duration of the proceedings.

But the PCOA, which subsequently undertook inspections of the three lock-ups said to be infected, in a statement Thursday, said “findings…reveal that only one person in custody had a confirmed tuberculosis case”.

According to the PCOA, the inspections were conducted on February 10 and 27 following the media reports on February 6, 2026 regarding potential tuberculosis outbreaks at the Half-Way-Tree (St Andrew Central Division), Hunt’s Bay (St Andrew North Division), and Greater Portmore (St Catherine South Division) police lock-ups.

The authority said its probe had confirmed that the Hunt’s Bay Station was the only one with “a TB case”.

“Evidence of this was found in the medical journal at the station, which indicated that a physician had already administered treatment and collected samples from five other prisoners in custody for TB testing,” the PCOA stated. It, however, said staff at the lock-up had informed “that an additional 10 prisoners in custody were suspected of being infected”.

The PCOA further said there was “no evidence of a TB outbreak” at the Half-Way-Tree Station. It said a review of the medical journal at that facility “showed no TB-related doctors’ visit or prisoner transfers to external medical facilities for respiratory symptoms”.

Similarly, it said for inspections conducted at the Greater Portmore Station on February 27, “while no evidence of TB cases were found, records showed one individual was treated for TB-like symptoms, which was pending confirmation”.

Notably, however, the PCOA team said it had discovered that five individuals had been treated for scabies, which causes intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. The authority, in the meantime, said an audit of protective measures for staff verified that “officers at the Hunt’s Bay facility were equipped with adequate personal protective equipment, which includes masks, gloves and sanitisers”.

Inspection and monitoring officers from the authority have conducted inspections of the prisoners in custody (PIC) stations in various police divisions from time to time. PIC inspections form part of the annual inspection schedule.

In December last year an outbreak of chicken pox was reported at the Hunt’s Bay facility.

And the PCOA is again voicing discontent with the continued overcrowding at lock-ups.

“At the time of inspections, it was documented that two (Hunt’s Bay and Greater Portmore) of the three lock-ups held prisoners above their gazetted capacity, the majority of which were remandees,” the entity said in the statement.

“We recommended that the station commanders put measures in place to address this issue as well as report and follow-up with the area commander and detention and courts regarding the relocation of excess prisoners in custody,” the authority stressed.

Last year the PCOA highlighted “overcrowding problems and a deplorable state of affairs” at five of the largest lock-ups in the Area Four policing region following a special inspection which revealed that most of the stations were operating above their gazetted cell capacity.

The results of the review, which were published in PCOA’s quarterly newsletter, also indicate that deficiencies were found relating to infrastructural decay, safety, and health issues.

At the time, the PCOA said the largest lock-ups in each of the five divisions that comprise Area Four were audited; namely, Central (Kingston Central Division); Port Royal (Kingston Eastern Division); Denham Town (Kingston Western Division); Half-Way-Tree (St Andrew Central Division); and Duhaney Park (St Andrew South Division).

Under the PCOA Act of 2005, the PCOA is responsible for the inspection of police stations, lock-ups and other operations of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

According to the PCOA, the inspections were conducted on February 10 and 27 following the media reports on February 6, 2026, regarding potential tuberculosis outbreaks at the Half-Way-Tree (St Andrew Central Division); Hunt’s Bay (St Andrew North Division) and Greater Portmore (St Catherine South Division) police lock-ups. AFP