From left, Lewin and Felice.

Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

THE ANTI-CORRUPTION Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is being kept busy receiving and investigating complaints against rogue cops.

And it was no different last Thursday night, when Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Justin Felice received over 90 calls from members of the public during a special anti-corruption telephone call-in session to the seniors' offices.

"Members of the public know who the corrupt cops are, and they are prepared to give informationon," Felice tells The Sunday Gleaner.

The Anti-corruption Unit evolved out of the Professional Standards Branch of the JCF, which had the remit for internal affairs, complaints against police, as well as anti-corruption. The newly formed unit is strictly responsible for weeding out corruption within the JCF.

Going one on one with persons on the telephone is like a wind of change for the institution, which traditionally, has had problems winning public trust.

"Every day, somebody is ringing the office giving information on a corrupt cop," Felice discloses, adding that his team is reaping tremendous success in this area.

Nearly 10 police officers have been arrested on suspicion of corruption since the start of the year. The latest arrest took place on Thursday, when a detective sergeant was arrested in Ocho Rios for breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.

The policeman, Nowel Morgan, of the Ocho Rios Criminal Investigation Branch, and his son Morlando Morgan, a teacher, were both arrested by members of the anti-corruption branch during an intelligence-driven operation.

Another sergeant, Patrick Williams, was slapped with corruption charges by his colleagues in February for demanding and accepting bribes.

Standard-bearer

One senior policeman at the anti-corruption Branch tells The Sunday Gleaner that people are now less hesitant to give information to the police. "People are coming in droves. No longer are they prepared to sit back and suffer at the hands of corrupt cops."

This senior cop, who has requested annonymity, was moved to be a standard-bearer of probity because of the vision he has for the JCF. "I don't believe in being the bad guy. I am there to make things better," he says.

A veteran crimefighter, the anti-corruption cop is a key man in the branch's operation. In order to join, however, he had to prove that he was worthy of dealing with confidential information and not betray the trust placed in him.

Like other members of the team, he had to pass rigorous tests, which included numerous antecedents tests, interviews, and lie-detector testing.

Identity concealed and passion overflowing, this policeman tells us that he dreams of the day when the JCF will be rid of corrupt police whom he describes as "parasites".

"I dream of a police force where the persons serving will be of the highest integrity, and one in which the public will have full confidence.

"Any policeman who allows himself to be arrested for being corrupt has to account for his own activities. I have no sympathy for police who extort, rob or do other evils to persons in our society," the anti-corruption cops states.

It is not the norm for members of a fraternity to 'rat' on each other. Within the police force, during initiation, for example, members pledge to be each other's keeper. However, the anti-corruption cop knows right from wrong and is prepared to stand up for justice.

He acknowledges that while the anti-corruption branch is working hard, bad cops continue to find ways and devise strategies to extort people's money and to break the law. In recent weeks, there have been several revelations of police officers allegedly taking bribes, extorting and murdering citizens.

Despite working for many years in a sensitive police post where corrupt practices often stained the air around him, the anti-corruption officer says the move to the Anti-Corruption Unit opened his eyes to the extent of the problem.

"I was not aware of the extent of corruption within the force until I came here. I did not know that so many police were corrupt," he reveals.