Government to review involvement of police in demolition of houses

The government is to review the involvement of the police in demolition exercises to determine whether a policy directive should be issued.

This was announced by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness during his visit to a section of Cooper's Pen, Trelawny on Friday, which is the site of a private land dispute.

It followed complaints by residents who were detained by the police during an August 11 demolition and those whose houses were demolished.

“So what it means then is that I have to look at now a general policy, because this is not the first time that the police have been asked to assist in evictions,” he said. 

It was now important to determine how such matters will be approached in the future, he said, stressing that “greater policy guidelines need to be given to the police in how they execute that duty that they have to ensure that at the end of the day, every citizen feels that their interest is, is protected.”

More than 20 homes were demolished in a reported court sanctioned exercise, while more than a dozen men from the community were detained by the police.

A lawsuit is before the Supreme Court, accusing the state of breaching the constitutional rights of the men.

Violated

One of the men told Dr Holness that he felt violated, by the police who “lock me up; mash up my place.”

The Prime Minister said he will be briefed this week on the security arrangements that were in place, explaining that he had not had an opportunity to “discuss this specific element of it with the police.”

Several of the Cooper's Pen residents told Dr Holness that they were now fearful of future interactions with the police.

They accused the officers who participated in the August 11, demolition exercise of treating them with disrespect.

Prime Minister Holness urged the residents not to form a negative opinion of all police personnel, based on the incident, while acknowledging that the police are not above reproach.

He said their the concerns will be discussed at the next meeting of the National Security Council.