C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 001465

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT), INL/LP (KBROWN, NBOZZOLO)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2014
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KCRM JM
SUBJECT: A SENIOR POLICE OFFICER DISCUSSES DEPORTEES,
POLICE CORRUPTION AND RECENT CRIME PROTEST

REF: A. 04 KINGSTON 02867


B. KINGSTON 01337

C. KINGSTON 01349

Classified By: Charge Ronald S. Robinson for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) In a June 3 meeting with Poloff, the head of the
Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), Assistant Commissioner
of Police George Williams, concurred with one of the findings
of an Embassy-funded study of deportees, acknowledged deep
corruption within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF),
characterized the May 25 Private Sector Organization of
Jamaica's (PSOJ) protest against crime as "nice", and said
that extortion is "big business" in Jamaica. End Summary.


2. (C) Poloff met with the head of the Criminal Investigation
Bureau (CIB), Assistant Commissioner of Police George
Williams, on June 3, to discuss recent public statements he
made alleging that deportees are involved in many of the
crimes in Jamaica. Williams also commented on Commissioner
Lucius Thomas' proclamation that there is deep corruption in
the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), he asserted that the
May 25 Private Sector Organization of Jamaica's (PSOJ)
protest against crime was "nice", and that extortion is "big
business" in Jamaica.

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Deportees Learned their "Trade" in Jamaica
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3. (C) When asked to elaborate on his statement regarding
deportees' involvement with crime, Williams responded that
many of the deportees were either "leaders of gangs or very
close to leaders before they went to the U.S." They are
deported for one reason or another, and when they return they
try to resume or gain control of gangs. Many deportees face
resistance, which has resulted in shoot-outs over turf and
control of extortion rings. (Note: Part of the Embassy's
Building Bridges Program and funded with a modest public
diplomacy grant, "Deported: Entry and Exit findings on
Jamaicans Returned from the United States" is a study done by
Dr. Bernard Headley of the University of West Indies in

October, 2004, which provided an academic analysis of certain
myths surrounding deportees. Although the study was not
intended to ascertain the extent to which deportees impact
crime in Jamaica, the study did dispel the myth that
deportees go to the U.S. at a young age, become "learned"
criminals and return to Jamaica where they practice their
criminal skills. (Ref A) End Note.)


4. (C) Williams stated that the Jamaica Constabulary Force
(JCF) is unable to adequately monitor deportees due to a lack
of resources, but he hopes that will change. Over the past
two years, CIB has requested a monitoring order for
approximately twenty individuals. The order, which lasts for
one year, requires a deportee to inform the police of where
and with whom he will live and to report to the local police
station under a monthly time-frame specified by the court.
Williams noted that amendments to the Fingerprint Act gives
police the power to fingerprint and photograph deportees
immediately upon their return to Jamaica if they were
convicted of a crime in the U.S. The CIB has not utilized
the fingerprint legislation since it was enacted in April,
2005, he said. If the monitoring order is breached, the
deportee is subject to criminal prosecution. According to
Williams, none of the deportees have breached a monitoring
order.

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Corruption in the JCF is Nothing New
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5. (C) On June 1, Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas told
police officers at the 62nd annual Police Federation
Conference that, "we have criminals among us. It is not only
corporals, sergeants and inspectors, it goes all the way up."
Thomas also alleged that intelligence, while insufficient to
convict corrupt officers, has revealed that some officers are
selling official ammunition, are involved in the illegal drug
trade and share sensitive information about police operations
with criminals.


6. (C) Williams was very frank in stating that he appreciated
Thomas' remarks and acknowledged that everyone in the JCF are
aware of who the corrupt officers are. I could give you a
list right now of corrupt officers that would be as long as
my arm", he said. Expressing frustration, Williams said
there is nothing we can do without "hard-core evidence to
convict." It is the lack of evidence that has prevented the
conviction of corrupt cops.
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Extortion and the PSOJ
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7. (C) When asked to comment on the Private Sector
Organization of Jamaica's (PSOJ) May 25 crime protest (Ref
B), Williams stated that he shares the same view as many
other Jamaicans that the PSOJ crime protest and business
lockdown was a good gesture but that nothing will come of it.
He described extortion as "big business" being conducted by
gangs and endorsed at every level in the business sector and
is not being reported. Williams stated that he had personally
reached out to the business sector to get details on the
perpetrators; however, the business sector declined to
cooperate and he did not understand why. When Poloff
suggested that it was due to the widespread perception that
corrupt policemen are involved in extortion, Williams
acknowledged that this is a possibility in some inner-city
areas, but that it is definitely not widespread.


8. (C) According to Williams, criminals use funds from
extortion to purchase high-powered weapons. The weapons are
then used in various forms of criminality including taking
the lives of police and ordinary citizens. In what he sees
as collaboration from the business sector, Williams stated
that some businesses "actually choose to pay freely", thus
they encourage it. So while the PSOJ's protest is "nice",
Williams lamented that it is unfortunate that CIB does not
have firm evidence to prosecute extortionists as there are no
witnesses from the business sector willing to come forward
and testify.

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Comment
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9. (C) The perception that deportees are the cause of an
overwhelmingly large amount of crime in Jamaica will continue
as long as Jamaica continues to struggle with an escalating
crime rate and an inability to deal with it. The GOJ's
insistence that deportees from the U.S., UK, and to a lesser
extent Canada, are major causes of its crime problem,
comfortingly implies that other countries bear responsibility
for the crime rate in Jamaica.


10. (C) Corruption and extortion often go hand-in-hand in
Jamaica where private citizens do not know whom to trust and
the authorities have not shown the ability to address the
problem. Thomas' announcement was greeted with support from
the government, opposition and the private sector; however,
the JCF has a long and hard battle to rid its organization of
corruption and the stigma that has been attached to it.
ROBINSON