Vendors hail corruption crackdown
Published:Monday | March 2, 2020 | 12:00 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
Some vendors in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, and surrounding areas have hailed the efforts of the Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau (IPROB) of the police force for taking action against a district constable who was arrested and charged for alleged acts of corruption.
The vendors told The Gleaner that some members of the police force constantly target them for vending in restricted areas and demand money for not laying charges against them.
Several vendors who spoke to The Gleaner admitted that they sometimes sell their goods in no-vending zones but noted that they took the risk to earn a living to sustain their families. However, they complain that some police personnel demand too much money from them to sell at these locations.
At the same time, the district constable was granted bail in the sum of $300,000 with three sureties when he appeared in the Westmoreland Parish Court on Friday. He was also ordered to surrender all his travel documents and to report to the Little London Police Station in the parish once per week.
According to IPROB, the arrest was carried out following a series of investigations that started in December 2019, when a vendor reported that the district constable had solicited and accepted money from him after he had allegedly caught him vending in a no-vending zone.
The vendor was taken into custody by the district constable and reportedly released after the money was allegedly paid over to him.
Detectives attached to IPROB reported that the district constable was placed before an identification parade and was pointed out. A file was submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a ruling.
He is booked to reappear before the court on Wednesday, March 18.