PNP calls for JCF to probe 'smear campaign' against Police Fed chairman

 

The People's National Party (PNP) is calling for the Police High Command to investigate the leaking of information, purportedly from the personnel files of embattled chairman of the Police Federation, Corporal Rohan James.

 

Spokesman on National Security Peter Bunting says there is a smear campaign against Corporal James and members of the Police Federation's Central Committee.

 

Mr. Bunting believes it is linked to the interdiction of Corporal James for his comments about overtime pay at a funeral last month.

 

According to Mr. Bunting, over a 24-hour period, two separate stories with false and defamatory allegations have been 'leaked' to news outlets, aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Federation's leadership.

 

He said the Commissioner must make it clear that the High Command has no involvement in the leaking of the information and does not support it. 

 

"Either they distance themselves from this information and say it is not true. And if it does come from their personal files, then there must be an investigation into how this information has been leaked or else every member of the rank and file will feel if there is some disagreement or dispute, their personal file is going to be used in a public misinformation campaign. That is not acceptable," Mr. Bunting insisted. 

 

The opposition spokesman was speaking Thursday in an interview on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.

 

The supposedly leaked information suggests that the Police Federation chairman campaigned on behalf of the PNP during the 2011 general elections.

 

It was also reported that the JCF's Workforce Management Solution system uncovered anomalies that some members of the Federation's Central Committee have claimed for 200 hours of overtime per month for reasons such as attending funerals.

 

With regards to the 2011 election campaign claim, Mr. Bunting said if Corporal James did campaign on behalf of the PNP, it would have been dealt with since he is still a member of the police force.

 

He also declared that the allegation that some members of the Police Federation's Central Committee falsified their overtime claims is not true. 

 

"That's absolute rubbish. And as I said, it is a new low for whoever is leaking that information and it is bringing the organisation into disrepute. You don't use people's personal files that way. That is something highly confidential in any organisation, much less the Jamaica Constabulary Force," he suggested.