Knight
THE JAMAICAN government has appealed to the British government through diplomatic channels to release 500 guns for the local police force, which had already been paid for, National Security Minister K.D. Knight said at the weekend.
In an interview with the government's information service, the JIS, the Minister said he had given statistics on the number of persons shot and killed by the police over the past few years to the Jamaican High Commission in London.
"The information will show a great reduction in the number of persons shot and killed by the police over the past few years," Mr. Knight said.
The UK government has been holding on to the weapons pending a report about the human rights record of the police force.
But Mr. Knight insisted that the action by the UK government indicated a "lack of understanding of the Jamaican crime situation and a lack of understanding of steps taken to control police shootings," Mr. Knight said.
"I would want to see far fewer non-police shootings. Over the last couple of years, 43 policemen have been murdered by criminals and over 100 shot," he noted.
"The fact is there are hostile criminals out there and if they (the police) face this kind of hostility, then in defence of themselves they are entitled by law to take certain types of action as long as it is not excessive."
The Minister noted that the government has put a Bureau of Special Investigation in place to focus on investigating fatal and non-fatal shootings by the police. He also mentioned the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Police Public Complaints Authority which investigate 'police excesses'.
In the JIS interview, the Minister suggested a united approach to solving the country's crime problem, stating that the government and the police cannot do it alone.
"Crime is not simply a police problem or a government problem. It is necessary to have the partnership of citizens, the private sector and the police," he said. "We are in a critical situation and we have to unite around a solution. Every single individual must accept that he/she can play a part by isolating the criminal element, passing on information to the police and using Crime Stop."
He said 411 members of the police force have been trained over the last two years in specialised areas of policing and that he was seeking international help.
"I believe in getting help from countries which are more advanced than we are in crime-fighting," he said, making reference to his visits last year with persons from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm, the Treasury and Customs Departments and Attorney-General Janet Reno.
"These weren't courtesy calls. I specifically sought help in terms of the tracing and containment of the movement of firearms into Jamaica, the management and control of the National Firearm and Drug Intelligence Center and sought the placing of individuals here in Jamaica to manage the unit."
He said he also sought help to get a dog into the country to sniff for guns and ammunition.
"I sought help from the Canadians. They came in and trained 100 police personnel in search techniques," he said. "Right now I am in dialogue with the British for help," he said, adding that Britain was providing the force with metal detection equipment at a cost of 1.4 million pounds.
