WESTERN BUREAU:
With unanswered questions remaining more than one year after two detainees vanished from the lock-up at the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay, St James, the commanding officer of the Area One Police Division is talking tough about accountability.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Clifford Chambers is declaring that if any prisoner should inexplicably vanish from police lock-ups under his command, strident measures will be taken to hold the relevant police personnel accountable.
The police have yet to solve the October 23, 2021 mystery at the facility, which has the capacity to house 220 detainees.
However, Chambers told The Sunday Gleaner that, “the internal tribunal process is now dealing with that matter, and so those persons who were in charge at the time have been charged administratively; they have been suspended from work, and their matter is presently before our internal tribunal process. They do have their attorneys who are representing their interests, but, from where I sit, if I should give my own opinion on the matter, I would clearly say there was some level of collusion that took place which led to those persons [inmates] not being at that location.”
One of the prisoners who escaped, Ainsley Woodburn, was awaiting trial for a double murder at the time of his disappearance, and, prior to that, had been accused by the St James police of committing at least seven murders. He was killed during a shootout with the police in St Ann on March 20, 2022.
The other man, Alex Scott, who remains on the run, was facing a charge of wounding with intent at the time he and Woodburn vanished. He was later named as a major suspect in the killing of the complainant in his wounding case.
At the time of the incident, reports surfaced that a cash payment of $5 million was made to facilitate the men’s escape. A major probe, which is ongoing, was launched into those allegations.
Chambers told The Sunday Gleaner last week that his inspection of the Freeport lock-up immediately following that incident, lent credence to the idea that the inmates were assisted in escaping.
“Having done my own investigation of the lock-up personally when the two persons allegedly went missing, I can say that the structural defects I observed were not the means through which those persons left the location,” said Chambers.
“I am not clear on what the structural standard was before my time [of taking command of Area One in 2019], so I didn’t go into where was repaired or what was repaired, but, from what I saw personally, I can confirm that, for those two that are no longer with us under my watch, it was not because of any structural defect.”
According to Chambers, “Any action of distrust will impact the relationship, trust and confidence that citizens have with the police. In a situation where persons go missing [from police custody] and there was no structural defect, it says that some level of collusion took place, which would point to a level of corruption and speak to distrust.”
“But I would urge the general public to know that we do have systems in place to hold those accountable whenever that happens.”
The disappearance of Woodburn and Scott in 2021 was not the first time that a prisoner has fled the Freeport lock-up under questionable circumstances.
In 2013, convicted felon Greg Taylor vanished from the facility and was later found at the home of a policewoman in Glendevon in St James, reportedly hiding under a table while wearing a bathrobe and bedroom slippers.
The policewoman, Kaye Falconer, was found guilty of harbouring a fugitive and sentenced to two years and six months in prison on July 7, 2017.
Other police divisions have had similar incidents, forcing the High Command to review operations at facilities across the island.
On December 1, 2021, Orville Purnell absconded the Kingston Central Police Station. Purnell was in custody awaiting an extradition hearing for him to face murder and gun charges in St Lucia.
Ten months after Purnell’s escape, another detainee, Rudolph ‘Boxer’ Shaw – who was on the St Catherine police’s most wanted list – also fled the Kingston Central Police Station.
Shaw was killed by the police days later, on October 8 last year, during a confrontation. Purnell is still at-large.
Following the mysterious disappearances, 11 police personnel across junior and senior ranks were interdicted islandwide.
Calling the incidents an embarrassment to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson said in a December 7, 2021 statement, “Let me make it abundantly clear to the public, and to the men and women I lead, that this is a matter of accountability that I take very seriously. When people, through negligence or unprofessionalism, cause the name of the JCF to be tarnished, there must be consequences.”
Quizzed about the structural integrity of the police lock-ups across the Area One division – which covers St James, Hanover, Westmoreland, and Trelawny – ACP Chambers acknowledged that consistent maintenance and repair work is needed at some facilities in St James and Westmoreland.
“I can say specifically for those in St James that the Barnett Street lock-up was repaired 15 years ago, in 2008, and Freeport was repaired seven years ago, in 2016. As it is right now, there is a need for constant repair,” Chambers explained.
“We know we have issues with regard to the bathroom facilities, the faucets, and extractor fans, but, for the most part, these ills have been reported on, and, although the repairs are not happening as quickly as we would like, we are ensuring that we do not have a health issue and that we do not compromise the safety of the persons who we have there.”
He added, “Concerning the Savanna-la-Mar Police Station lock-up in Westmoreland, that location has some structural issues, but, to the best of my knowledge, that is being addressed, with the police having written and complained about what is happening there, particularly in the plumbing system. We sent the necessary communiqué to the relevant authorities.”
The repair work at the Freeport and Barnett Street lock-ups took place one year after six prisoners tunnelled their way to freedom during a break-out at Freeport on November 30, 2015.
Of those six, Benjamin Stephenson and Kelvin Hodges, who were both charged with murder, were shot and killed by the police on December 15, 2015 and February 12, 2016, respectively; while Shaniel Luton, who had been convicted of a double murder, was reportedly killed in Haiti in 2019, although no evidence was presented to confirm this.
Randy Murray, who was charged with illegal possession of firearm, and Gregory Roberts, who was charged with illegal possession of firearm and robbery with aggravation, were recaptured between December 12 and 13, 2015. Marcus Robinson, who was charged with illegal possession of firearm, remains at-large.
The Sunday Gleaner sought an update from National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang on the plans for the repair and upkeep of Jamaica’s police lock-ups, as well as beefing up security protocols to prevent escapes. However, efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.