THERE IS growing pressure on the Government to give the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) prosecutorial powers as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been blamed for being too slow or ineffective in securing convictions involving the security forces.
The DPP told The Gleaner on Monday that her office had been highly successful in getting convictions with cases involving police officers, but noted it was not her style to boast or raise concerns about weaknesses in investigative bodies.
Pointing to other bodies such as the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) and the Integrity Commission which, do not, by law, request a ruling from the DPP, JFJ said that INDECOM should be afforded similar powers.
“At this time, we will call for INDECOM to have the power to prosecute, because that is the only fair way at this time, and in light of all the resource constraints that Jamaica has,” John Clarke, senior legal officer at JFJ, said.
“INDECOM cases and cases against police officers seem to be the only class of cases where a charge cannot be laid before some other body vets it, and that gives a different standard of justice for police and security forces and for the general public,” Rodje Malcolm, JFJ’s executive director, said.
