Laura Tanna, Contributor
Deputy Comissioner of Police Mark Shields (second right), listens to dance hall DJ Beenie Man (left) and caretaker for West Central St. Andrew Patrick Roberts (right) during a tour of Balcome Drive and other sections of the Waterhouse community on Sunday. The tour was part of efforts to ease tension in the community as a result of violent activities. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
IN PART one, published in last Wednesday's Gleaner, Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields, who has the crime portfolio in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), described his work in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), particularly his role as project manager for the Ring of Steel closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) which encircle the City of London. Part two now relates to his work in Jamaica.
CAMERAS
Asked why we can't have cameras at the major roads into and out of Kingston to track criminal activity, Shields replies: "You've had years of decay and a lack of investment in crime and disorder. There have been a number of attempts recently to commence a good closed circuit television project. The will is there but not yet organised enough to make it work. We do need cameras. There are many systems throughout the world that are available. I've heard people say: 'Oh not in Jamaica, because the criminals would actually damage the cameras.' In Northern Ireland where you've got some of the most sophisticated terrorists in the world, we have CCTV systems there that are bomb proof and damage proof, on very high poles with extremely good camera lenses that can cover communities to reduce the fear of crime, actually stop crime happening in the first place and also capture people committing crimes.
"Many people in the private sector, with money, say they want to help. Well I'll be saying: 'Put your money where your mouth is.' I'll come up with some projects that we can both gain through. One is a sophisticated CCTV system in downtown Kingston, in New Kingston, that will help us make people feel safe, identify suspects and everything else that goes with that.
FORENSIC LAB
"The second thing that we're going to do is try to raise a significant sum of money for the forensic laboratory, which is under-resourced. By making a significant investment, we can improve the clear-up rates. We can lock-up, charge and convict the right people and also stop people who shouldn't be locked up from being convicted!"
Shields is pleased with IBIS, the integrated ballistic information system and AFIS, the automated fingerprinting information system.
However, he admits there is no effective computerised network between divisional stations and the headquarters area divisions due to under-funding. He said the Proceeds of Crime Act would provide resources needed by the police, if they could ensure that the money and resources the Narcotics Division, Kingfish and other special investigators acquire are fed back into the fight against crime and not disbursed into Government's central funds for other purposes.
DNA SAMPLES
Another priority is an amendment to the law so that DNA swabbing becomes mandatory when someone is arrested. The police actually have the DNA processing capability now, but not the law to use it effectively. Says Shields: "The reality is if police work is to be intelligence-led, if we're going to protect people, then we need laws to protect the majority. As well as protecting the rights of the minority--the individual criminal--we have to keep thinking about what we can do to improve the quality of life and reduce the fear of crime. [This can be done] In one fell swoop, by introducing legislation that says: 'When you're arrested for a criminal offence, you will be required to provide a swab for DNA, you will have your fingerprints taken, and you will have your photograph taken. The second two we've got. The first one we haven't got. That would mean that we can have a DNA database and can start to clear up the backlog of crimes. Somebody who rapes a woman a year ago, and then he's arrested for smoking a spliff eighteen months later, the DNA from that swab can actually prove that's the semen that he left on the girl's panties."
RAPE
When I asked what more could be done about the serious problem of rape in Jamaica and raised the case of a woman abducted from Kingston 6 and raped in St. Thomas who was receiving threatening phone calls, Shields said: "One of the things that the JCF is woefully inadequate at is communication with victims. It is a huge problem, probably because of one critical incident after another, one case back-to-back. I don't think they've received either the training, nor have resources in which they can treat victims with sufficient respect and dignity all the time. Sometimes we get it right. Individual officers do get it right but others clearly do not appreciate how important it is to keep the victim or the victim's family and friends informed about what is going on, because so much valuable information can still be got from those people. It is an area of great concern to me. I'm going to implement and establish in the year ahead a system of family liaison officers (FLOs), which works extremely well (in the UK).
"I can criticise the Metropolitan Police Service [in London] for the same shortcomings fifteen years ago and we, through public enquiry and huge gaffs, now have an effective system of FLOs, who work as a conduit between the family and the senior investigating officer. It is a specific role."
In his relations with Jamaicans, DCP Shields feels people accept him because: "I've always treated people as I find them. I've absolutely no interest in your sexuality, your race, your gender or your religion. As far as I'm concerned, if you like me and I like you, then we can be friends. We can get on. Growing up in a multicultural society and being in the police, where people expected us to be racist or prejudiced, I've almost over-compensated but not in a sort of (patronising) way. I just do it through my own personality. People are very perceptive, particularly in inner-city communities. They have to be street-wise. They have to sum up people very, very quickly because if they get it wrong, they can end up dead or whatever. I do think they take me for what I am and I take them for what they are. So there is a mutual respect that I have for all people, from whichever background they are."
