plea bargaining for cops

[Rockman]

Nevertheless deviating from the norm, right?
I do not think the officer will be willing to give the dirt on others, they will have to wait on their own encounter with the holy spirit.
And(bad English)as to other cops coming clean, we rather they were not dirty to begin with.





Blessed

[Time]

I agree, if South African can resort to a truth commission instead of a a trail of Pik Botha cronies then perhaps we can pardon this cop.

[Karl]

Nevertheless deviating from the norm, right?
I do not think the officer will be willing to give the dirt on others, they will have to wait on their own encounter with the holy spirit.
And(bad English)as to other cops coming clean, we rather they were not dirty to begin with.





Blessed

I think it is normal to decide on appropriate action after weighing all options!

[Karl]

Observer EDITORIAL: Constable Lyn-Shue: he who is without...

Constable Lyn-Shue: he who is without sin cast the first stone

Wednesday, January 23, 2008


We confess to a great deal of ambivalence on the question of punishment of Detective Constable Carey Lyn-Shue whom we thanked in the Sunday Observer for his unusual courage in confessing he bore false witness against an alleged gunman on a murder rap.

The country, as is to be expected, is torn by the uncertainty of how best to react to the spiritually inspired confession of a dastardly deed by a law enforcement officer, sworn to serve and protect the very person against whom he used the law.

It is by no means a cut and dried decision that Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin has found himself in. To punish or to forgive, whichever one he chooses, either way we lose.

The letter of the law calls for punishment of a wrong that cannot be easily dismissed. Fabricating evidence, as Constable Lyn-Shue admitted, goes to the heart of the justice system. If Jamaica is a country of laws, the justice system is paramount and men must believe in it or revert to the law of the jungle, take justice into their own hands and kill or be killed.

On the other hand, what Constable Lyn-Shue has done by his belated honesty, is to provide this nation with an opportunity to work out how to deal with past wrongs.

We take it as truth that innocent Jamaicans have gone to their graves, are languishing in prison or are still suffering because of the grave wrong done to them by people like Constable Lyn-Shue.

The difference in this case is that they do not have the opportunity to have their names cleared by a confessor stung by guilty conscience, albeit because of conversion to Christianity.

We also know that so much of the pain and suffering being experienced could and would be healed, if only a similar confession was made. That is why South Africa tried a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, following the abolition of that wretched state of Apartheid, under which the most inhuman things imaginable were done to black people.

Some have used this current development to call again for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jamaica. We can't be certain how that would pan out because of the many difficult issues that need to be resolved.
However, it seems to us that only good can come of any effort to encourage Jamaicans, especially policemen, to come clean and admit to the wrongs they have done to others.

It is unlikely, of course, that people will come forward if they believe that all they will get is recrimination, humiliation and possibly, incarceration. And that is where the real difficulty lies.
In a sense, we are damned if we do, damned if we don't.

Looked at more broadly, the Lyn-Shue confession, arguably, had its genesis in the environment in which he joined and served the Jamaica Constabulary Force. It is the same environment that breeds extra-judicial killings.

Some policemen, frustrated that they know killers but can't get them convicted because they can't get court-worthy evidence or get witnesses to attend court on account of being afraid of reprisals, become judge, jury and executioner.

This is clearly a case which challenges us to let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

[Karl]

I don't feel abandoned - Repentant cop

I don't feel abandoned - Repentant cop
published: Wednesday | January 23, 2008


Adrian Frater, News Editor
Western Bureau:
Detective Constable Carey Lyn-Sue, whose confession about fabricating evidence in a murder case has sparked a national debate on police conduct, said his decision to come clean has united his family and pulled them closer to God.

"I have the full support of my family because they too believe in integrity," said Detective Constable Lyn-Sue, who was suspended from duty by Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin in the aftermath of his confession. "This incident has united my family and has pulled us closer to God."

Support colleagues
Despite the public bashing he has been getting from some of his colleagues in the constabulary, the repentant cop, who note that he has been praying a great deal and asking God to keep him humble and guide his every step, says contrary to popular belief, he has been getting calls from some of his colleagues expressing understanding and solidarity.

"I don't feel abandoned in any way," said Lyn-Sue, whose last assignment was with the Area One Accident Reconstruction and Investigative Unit. "I am surprised by the level of support I have been getting."

In an interview on radio yesterday, Public Defender Earl Witter joined those persons who, while not asking that the detective constable escape punishment for the act he confessed he did, was of the view his punishment should be tempered with mercy.
"Some are prepared to condemn him outright and they have been scathing in their criticism because, by his own admission, if true, he would have committed what is manifestly a corrupt act," said Mr. Witter.
"What I would say to those whose position is no mercy, is that they can go on casting the first stone but this constable, if taken at his word, is well on the way to rehabilitation and there is much that one could argue in terms of mitigation."

While some of the persons who have been applauding him are expressing a desire to see him remain in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Detective Constable Lyn-Sue said he has not given much thought to that matter, preferring to leave his fate in God's hand.

"If you believe in God for some things you must believe in Him in all things, so I will leave those matters in His hands," he said. "I know God has a plan for me; that is why I am not worried."

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com