Young constable killed by teen

Patrina Pink, Gleaner Intern

The neatly pressed uniform of Special Constable James Lemmie still hangs above his bed in his home in Crescent district, St Catherine. The young constable did not get another chance to don the blue seam but the legacy of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) is written everywhere.

Etched in the family ackee tree, on a school bag from his days at Spanish Town High. On planks of wood nailed near the window, even on the very sockets that gave light to the room. For many, it would appear to be the mark of a man obsessed, but for the gunned-down 22-year-old the force was the very nucleus of his existence.

Lemmie is the ninth policeman murdered since the start of the year and the third to be shot in a three-day span. The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) report stated that Lemmie was fatally shot around 9:30 Monday night by 17-year-old Radcliffe Foster. The policeman's own service pistol was the weapon used in the act.

Shot by off-duty cop

Foster was then shot by a policeman moonlighting for a security company. Police reports state that the off-duty officer was driving by on Young Street when he saw the incident. The officer then tried to apprehend Foster. Foster reportedly fired Lemmie's pistol at the off-duty policeman who shot back. Both Lemmie and Foster were rushed to the hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

Lemmie had been on reserve duty at the ISCF St Catherine North Police Division station in Spanish Town. September would have marked two years of service in the ISCF. He had only been at the Spanish Town station since October 2009.

"Jah know, me neva think me would be the one a go a him funeral," said one teary-eyed officer, shortly before he exited the station, head bowed.

Jovial, humble, disciplined, enthusiastic about work is how Lemmie was described by almost all his peers.

Woman Special Corporal Novelette Davis Leachman said Lemmie had been a light-hearted but disciplined example of what a young policeman should be.

"He was always joking around and so happy to do his work. Sometimes you'd have to ask him if he wasn't going home. He loved the job."

Would have done well

Commander Maron Prince-Marshall, head of the St Catherine North Police Division, described the young man as someone who would have quickly climbed the hierarchy of the force, due to his tenacity.

Back in Crescent district, a family is without its breadwinner. Lemmie is survived by a twin brother, other siblings, mother and grandmother. Younger by a few minutes, Joseph is wistful as he speaks of his brother. Even when recalling their lives as youngsters he, like many others, could not escape mentioning ISCF.

"He never forgot his family, he always used to say that he wanted me to join the ISCF. He showed his family real affection," Joseph said.

patrina.pink@gleanerjm.com