Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
Lewin
Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, who assumes the role of police chief today, will have to come out swinging to beat back a surging wave of murders and implement reforms to rescue the image of a constabulary tainted by corruption.
Lewin's appointment has the full endorsement of the People's National Party's Dr. Peter Phillips, who was Minister of National Security during most of Admiral Lewin's tenure as military chief.
Rear Admiral Lewin, who recently retired from Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), succeeds Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas who went on retirement on Tuesday, October 31.
"I think that (Rear) Admiral Lewin is an excellent Jamaican with a tremendous record of public service, most recently as chief of staff of the JDF where he presided over and led perhaps the most significant upgrade in the capabilities of the JDF since its inception," said Dr. Phillips in an interview with The Gleaner.
Dr. Phillips readily acknowledged, however, that the new police chief will face many challenges in his new role, with this being "a time of great difficulties for the Jamaica Constabulary Force".
The JCF's leadership challenges are compounded by the country's soaring murder rate, with nearly 1,473 Jamaicans killed up to December 10. The homicide casualties include 62 children, 136 women and 20 policemen.
The Government has already indicated that both arms of national security - the police and the military - will be working closer together in tackling the problem.
That commitment harks back to a debate that raged three years ago - giving policing powers to members of the JDF, in part so that they could act on their own in certain circumstances.
That would have required an amendment to Section 9 (3) of the Defence Act, granting the JDF troops power to "search, apprehend and detain" independently. Those persons detained would be handed over to the police as soon as possible thereafter.
That proposal was rejected by a select committee of Parliament, largely because of fears that the military would be getting involved in a level of policing activities for which its members were not trained, resulting in the use of excessive force and the abuse of citizens' rights.
That failure to secure parliamentary support for the change came back to haunt Rear Admiral Lewin in October 2005 when the nation awoke to news of the brutal death by fire of 10-year-old Sasha-Kaye Brown, her grandmother, Dorcas Brown, her grandfather, Gerald, and her aunt, Michelle, in their Barnes Avenue home in St. Andrew. The house was reportedly set alight by gunmen who fired at the occupants to prevent them from escaping.
Soldiers stationed nearby were accused of not responding immediately to urgent calls for help, but Rear Admiral Lewin, in an interview with The Gleaner a few weeks later, stressed that the soldiers' hands were tied by the existing rules as they were unaccompanied by police personnel at the time.
The soldiers, he said, were left contemplating their options in light of their legal constraints, before deciding to "take a chance" and go to the scene. By then, however, it was too late.
Modest additions to the numbers in the police force since then have not adequately made up for the personnel shortages; hence the continuing need for support from the military, which the new commissioner will experience from the other side.
Derrick Smith, the new National Security Minister, was opposed to the proposal two years ago, when he was the Opposition spokesman.
"The JLP's position, as we speak, remains the same: we are against granting the military police powers under any circumstances," he told The Sunday Gleaner in November 2005.
Now, as the man responsible for the security portfolio, Smith has had an about-turn, and recently indicated a willingness to support the legislative change now.
Dr. Phillips remains supportive of the proposal, describing it as a step in the right direction. "It is not a panacea though, but in this thing there are no panaceas. It is a step by-step process," he said.
