The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines esprit de corps as "a feeling of pride, fellowship, and loyalty uniting the members of a particular group." This is a good thing to have, a positive thing, especially if the group is the police force whose members risk their lives in the course of their daily duty, and I am happy to hear that this is taught at the Police Academy at Twickenham Park.

But when esprit de corps leads policemen to tell lies in support of one another out of loyalty and fellowship, that is going too far; but no less a person than the president of Cops for Christ is admitting that it happens. On page three of yesterday's Gleaner he is quoted as saying that "There is a thing that we are taught in training school called espritdecorp (sic); that we must stick in comradeship, so no police is going to be on patrol and something happen and they don't defend each other by writing a collaborated statement to collaborate each other. Sometimes it is fabricated, sometimes it is not the thing that happens, but they do it in form of collaboration". I'm sure he means corroboration, but collaboration gets the point across, and certainly takes place.

Of course, it is perjury to swear to a statement that is false, which in addition to being immoral is also a crime. What the Christian cop did in yesterday's Gleaner is to corroborate the proposition that what Detective Constable Carey Lyn-Sue admitted to doing is not uncommon in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). Police will lie to protect each other. Policemen who behave like this are corrupt cops; there is no other word to use. So, is corruption in the police force the exception or the rule?

I remember well the case of a mentally challenged young man, Michael Gayle, who was beaten to death in a police station by a group of policemen. A coroner's inquest was held into the case to determine who was responsible but no policeman would say which one of them did it. That is esprit de corps. But all were accessories to the death, but no one was arrested and charged. That is esprit de corps.

In the Kraal case, where policemen were accused of murder, a subpoena was issued for Danhai Williams to appear to testify in court, but the policemen assigned to do the job could not find him to serve the subpoena. That is esprit de corps.

Definition

When the warrant is issued for the arrest of the policeman, but by that time it is discovered that he has left the island, that is esprit de corps.

When the ballistics report comes in identifying which police gun killed the person, and all we need now is the firearms register to confirm which policeman had that gun, and - surprise - that page is torn out of the firearms register, that is esprit de corps.

When the inspector of police sees a constable gun-butting a member of the public and does nothing about it, that is esprit de corps.

So many young, black males are killed in shootouts with the police - after firing first, of course. Eighty policemen surround a house containing seven boys, and all seven end up dead after a shootout. We have the highest rate of police killings in the world, and probably the lowest rate of police convictions in the world. Is this where esprit de corps leads us?

This phenomenon raises the question whether the JCF can really police itself. Does esprit de corps mean that one policeman will find it difficult to prosecute another? Is there any hope that policemen in the Professional Standards Branch investigating police impropriety will be able to prosecute their squaddies?

What is clearly required is an entirely different investigative agency to investigate the police, with no present or former policemen among their number. Commissioner Lewin: you have a big job to do.

The Oxford dictionary's definition of esprit de corps begins with feelings of pride in the organisation. If they taught that at the Police Academy then, maybe, we would have a better police service.