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Cops in hot water - Police deal with more corruption allegations
Published: Saturday | June 6, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Reporter[/COLOR][/COLOR]
The horrible week for the police force continued yesterday when news broke that two more members had been arrested on corruption charges.
It was a week which the force would want to forget, as numerous allegations tarnished its image.
This was underscored by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who on Thursday, told members of the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Island[/COLOR][/COLOR] Special Constabulary Force that the police force was being tainted by corrupt and criminal activities in which some members were involved.
Golding's comment came in a week which opened with a body blow to the force as Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin announced that he had recommended that 10 of its members be retired in the public interest.
linked to a bogus cop
The 10 have been linked to a case involving a bogus cop who spent months at the Mount Salem Police Station in St James.
Two other members of the force remain under investigation in connection with that case, while six others were cleared and reinstated.
Less that 24 hours later, news came that four cops had been arrested in connection with the December 2004 disappearance of two men from a plaza in St Andrew.
to face murder charges
The four look set to face abduction and murder charges although their [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]attorney[/COLOR][/COLOR] has confidently expressed that the police will be unable to prove a case against them.
Yesterday, the already tarnished image of the force was again rubbed in the mud when the High Command reported that two more members had been arrested on corruption charges.
In that incident, Detective Sergeant Winston Pollack and Constable Tyrone Bryan were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch on what the force said was "reasonable suspicion of breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act and conspiracy to commit a criminal offence".
It is alleged that in February, the complainant, who is the proprietor of a supermarket and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]wholesale[/COLOR][/COLOR] in St Catherine, paid the detective sergeant $115,000 to obtain a Jamaican passport.
The complainant, who is a foreign national, is the holder of a work permit and was not entitled to a Jamaican passport.
It is further alleged that Pollack conspired with Bryan, to whom the money, or some of it, was paid, to employ another individual to secure the passport.
The passport was eventually obtained and handed over to the complainant.
means of identification
On Thursday, the foreign national visited the passport office where he used the passport as a means of identification in applying for a passport for his daughter.
During this process, immigration officials discovered that the passport was not genuine.
The anti-corruption [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]investigators[/COLOR][/COLOR] were then called in and an investigation led to the arrest of the two policemen.
They are now in custody, waiting to be interviewed in the presence of their attorneys. arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
Published: Saturday | June 6, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Reporter[/COLOR][/COLOR]
The horrible week for the police force continued yesterday when news broke that two more members had been arrested on corruption charges.
It was a week which the force would want to forget, as numerous allegations tarnished its image.
This was underscored by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who on Thursday, told members of the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Island[/COLOR][/COLOR] Special Constabulary Force that the police force was being tainted by corrupt and criminal activities in which some members were involved.
Golding's comment came in a week which opened with a body blow to the force as Police Commissioner Hardley Lewin announced that he had recommended that 10 of its members be retired in the public interest.
linked to a bogus cop
The 10 have been linked to a case involving a bogus cop who spent months at the Mount Salem Police Station in St James.
Two other members of the force remain under investigation in connection with that case, while six others were cleared and reinstated.
Less that 24 hours later, news came that four cops had been arrested in connection with the December 2004 disappearance of two men from a plaza in St Andrew.
to face murder charges
The four look set to face abduction and murder charges although their [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]attorney[/COLOR][/COLOR] has confidently expressed that the police will be unable to prove a case against them.
Yesterday, the already tarnished image of the force was again rubbed in the mud when the High Command reported that two more members had been arrested on corruption charges.
In that incident, Detective Sergeant Winston Pollack and Constable Tyrone Bryan were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch on what the force said was "reasonable suspicion of breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act and conspiracy to commit a criminal offence".
It is alleged that in February, the complainant, who is the proprietor of a supermarket and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]wholesale[/COLOR][/COLOR] in St Catherine, paid the detective sergeant $115,000 to obtain a Jamaican passport.
The complainant, who is a foreign national, is the holder of a work permit and was not entitled to a Jamaican passport.
It is further alleged that Pollack conspired with Bryan, to whom the money, or some of it, was paid, to employ another individual to secure the passport.
The passport was eventually obtained and handed over to the complainant.
means of identification
On Thursday, the foreign national visited the passport office where he used the passport as a means of identification in applying for a passport for his daughter.
During this process, immigration officials discovered that the passport was not genuine.
The anti-corruption [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]investigators[/COLOR][/COLOR] were then called in and an investigation led to the arrest of the two policemen.
They are now in custody, waiting to be interviewed in the presence of their attorneys. arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com
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