Judge Orders Police Brought Before the Court in Handcuffs
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The Jamaica Police Federation has sent out a release about a judge ordering a policeman in uniform to be brought before the court in handcuffs, for failing to appear in court the previous day.
The federation released under the name of its President Rohan James stated that the constable had another matter in another court with similar jurisdiction.
This was communicated to the appropriate persons who had in turn highlighted this to the judge.
My first response is do we have a system in place to deal with this challenge of police not being able to attend court? First, police officers should be informed possible about a week in advance that the officer is to attend court.
This advice should be sent electronically to the officer and this system would allow the officer to indicate his inability to attend court or not.
The idea of a judge having the power to haul a police officer in front of the court just like that is an indication of a system that is not working.
I am aware that officers sometimes do not turn up for cases and this must be frustrating for all.
If persons who are part of the security, and the judicial system cannot work together, then we should not expect the system to deal with crime in a country where we are in the top 10 in terms of the annual number of murders committed annually per capita in Jamaica.
If the judge abused his power then a report should be made to the appropriate body to deal with it.
It is possible that this judge should not continue as a judge!
The country must be able to have full confidence in those who are to see to it that our laws are obeyed, and those who are arbitrators of justice.
If this is not working then this country is doomed for failure.
The Police Federation should realize that this country needs ideas as to how to improve the system because those who are in a position to come up with ideas are coming up with blanks.
Every sector of society must be held accountable. Police officers should be held accountable and so should our judges.
Where anyone falls short, they that persons should be told to bag their bags and leave or be encouraged to do so depending on the severity of the case.
I encourage the Police Federation to forget the confrontation and any disruption of the system.
Get the ideas out there for solving a situation that cannot continue.
I encourage well-thinking Jamaicans to look at those solutions and to come up with their own.
We should then advise our humble servants in Gordon House what action they should take.
You can start by adding your comments at the end of this blog.
