JFJ Press Release: JFJ Commends Swift Action by the Police
- Jul 06, 2010 -
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
JFJ Commends Swift Action by the Police
Tuesday, July 6, 2010, Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) wishes to commend the swift action by the police in arresting Constable Derron Nish who was implicated in a robbery and kidnapping incident which occurred in Catherine Hall, St. James over the weekend. JFJ is also delighted by the speed employed in organizing the identification parade the accused Constable is to face.
The arrest of a colleague by detectives from the Organized Crime Division (OCID) demonstrates a willingness to be impartial and illustrates a commitment to accountability within the police force. These actions should be the norm rather than the exception and JFJ stands fully in support of the impartial upholding of the law displayed.
This is not the first time that Constable Nish has been implicated in police impropriety. He was also implicated in the controversial fatal shooting of Hussein McCormack, a 16 year-old boy who, the CCN reports claimed, broke into Lee’s Fifth Avenue Department Store in Tropical Plaza on the April 5, 2009. Conflicting reports suggest that there were no signs of a break in.
While JFJ is making no determination of Constable Nish’s guilt or innocence in the cases cited, we are concerned that the police force is still rife with rogue police officers. Criminal conduct by police officers is an affront to the professional standards which they are sworn to meet. It also serves to undermine the building of trust between citizens and police to which Commissioner Ellington has committed. All allegations of improper action by police must be swiftly and professionally investigated and punished, as necessary, with the full severity of the law.
As such, JFJ continues to call upon the Government of Jamaica to take aggressive steps in implementing the Independent Commission of Investigations (ICI) so that there will be an efficient system to credibly investigate and clear or charge those police officers against whom allegations of unlawful conduct are made.
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