The corrupt cops will be gone within a year – SSP McGregor
Published:Wednesday | October 14, 2015 | 12:00 AMMark Titus
Western Bureau:
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Steve McGregor, commanding officer for the St James Police Division, has given a solemn promise that within a year, the division will be free of corrupt cops.
McGregor said the strategies being employed by the hierarchy of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to rid itself of corrupt personnel are now bearing fruits.
"I am not afraid to admit that we have some tiefing, unscrupulous ... all kinds of police among us, but I will be quick to say that we have our strategies to rid the JCF of corruption, and it has been working," said McGregor, while giving the keynote address at Tuesday's Montego Bay's COK Soladity Co-operative Credit Union members meeting in Montego Bay.
"... and I can assure you that if you continue to partner with me, we could have a clean St James Police Division within one year's time," continue McGregor, who was brought back to St James earlier this year, by Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams, to rein in the lawlessness which has been plaguing the parish.
While admitting to the disturbing fact that members of the police force were involved in criminality, the senior policeman also pointed out that, based on information that came out of a Transparency International survey, the police were not listed among the top three when it comes to corruption by public officials.
"... But let me point out to you that a recent survey on corrupt public entities would surprise you, because the police are not at the top; they are not at second, and they are not at third either," said McGregor, in reeling of the disturbing information. "In fact, we should be credited for our efforts, because we might be the only entity that makes the arrest of our own members public. Other groups do not."
The public image of the St James Police Division has been taking a battering within recent times as a result of police personnel being implicated in a range of criminal activities, including robberies, murders, drug-running, and the illicit lottery scam.