No shortage of crime-scene experts, says Hines
Published:Sunday | May 4, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter
The police High Command is insisting that it has competent personnel and adequate equipment to process crime scenes.
This confirmation has come following reports last week that a police officer at a station in the St Andrew Central Division told the victim of a motor vehicle break-in that he would have to journey elsewhere to have fingerprints lifted from a car.
"They said that ... I would have to go to Spanish Town Serious Crime Branch, as they are the only people with the capability of dusting and taking fingerprints," said the victim.
But Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Glenmore Hines, told The Sunday Gleaner that move would be a breach of protocol.
"We have sufficient scenes-of-crime personnel and they are located strategically to cover the entire island," said Hines.
However, The Sunday Gleaner was told of several other incidents where members of the police force have claimed that they did not have the capacity to capture evidence at crime scenes not considered major.
"We have currently on staff hundreds of scenes-of-crime persons spread across the country. Only thing is that they are largely centralised, so you would not find scenes-of-crime experts at all police stations," Hines explained.
"But we have experts who are mobile and can be called, and they are normally called to the scenes of a crime once they are needed," he emphasised.
According to Hines, while ideally the police force would like more scenes-of-crime experts, the current number is not insufficient.
"We can always do with more (scenes-of-crime personnel), but we are not short to the point where we cannot function. There is a call-out protocol for them which is well established, so they can be called for all crimes where the possibility of lifting forensic evidence is present."
He added: "If citizens who are victims of crimes are dissatisfied with the response, we encourage them to activate the various mechanisms to register their dissatisfaction. This is through the head of the station, or the head of the division or police control."