TWO MORE anti-crime units are to be established. Minister of National Security and Justice Mr. K.D. Knight told the recent PNP annual conference that a Financial Crime Division is to deal with 'white collar' crime and a Voluntary Special Constables unit is to operate in the area of intelligence-gathering.
We have some reservations about the latter agency and expect that the Minister will provide details for a full Parliamentary debate on the proposal. Mr. Knight was reported to have told a forum in Montego Bay that this civilian agency, would not replace the intelligence-gathering unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force but would complement it. If it is felt that the intelligence gathering arm of the JCF is weak the obvious question is why not strengthen it, why create a new agency. And to whom will this agency report?
Intelligence-gathering is a very sensitive issue in most Western democracies carrying as it does the risk of abuse of the rights of the individual. While we can agree that the State has to have the right in the name of the public good to seek out dissidents and those who would disrupt good order and overthrow constituted authority the danger of the Orwellian excesses of the totalitarian state must always be borne in mind.
The recent history of some democracies is replete with examples of intelligence agencies trampling on individual rights and in some instances fabricating elaborate plots in order to incriminate and on occasions eliminate people. Our own Green Bay incident was largely about an intelligence agency seeking to take the law into its own hands. We would therefore urge Mr. Knight to think carefully about this proposal for a civilian intelligence agency and to encourage the widest public debate on the issue.
We are not convinced of the need for such an agency.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
