JFJ blasts Police Federation over response to stop and search ruling

As debates rages over the recent Supreme Court ruling over the practice of stop and search of motor vehicles by the police, local human rights group, Jamaicans for Justice  (JFJ) has bashed the Police Federation over its response to the ruling.
Sergeant Raymond Wilson,  Chairman of the Police Federation,  has slammed the ruling, arguing that the police were being asked to be irresponsible .He made it clear that the police will continue to carry out their duty to battle the country's chronic crime problem.
    
But in a release on Thursday, the JFJ said Wilson misunderstood the ruling of Justice David Batts.
According to JFJ, the police are actually being asked to be responsible and carry out their duties within the confines of the law.
   
JFJ argued that the police will always have the power to stop persons and execute searches providing these stops and searches can be legally justified and are executed based on reasonable cause. It said random stops and searches without reasonable cause have always been illegal.
    
The group said Wilson's remarks are only one of the critical comments from various branches of the Police, including the Police High Command, about the ruling of Justice Batts and their intention to ignore it."These comments are unseemly and inappropriate and send the wrong signals about respect for law and order and the rule of law."
 
The JFJ said the fact that these remarks are coming from the police makes them even more distasteful.The human rights group said if the police do not agree with the ruling they are at liberty to head to the Court of Appeal, but until then ,they are sworn to uphold the law, not to interpret it.
 
JFJ has urged the Attorney General to issue a directive to the members of the police force reminding them of their duty to uphold the law and that it is not appropriate for them to disrespect verbally or by their actions, the rulings of the courts of the land.
 It said continued intransigence of the police on this issue will expose the Government of Jamaica to lawsuits that this country can ill afford.
  
JFJ has also asked Peter Bunting, Minister of National Security to inform the Commissioner of Police and the officers under his charge, that it cannot be policy for the police to continue random stops and searches in light of the recent ruling of the courts.