Gov’t wants cops to pay
ATTORNEY General and Justice Minister A J Nicholson yesterday signalled his intent to have members of the police force who “run afoul of the law”, absorb some of the legal costs incurred from lawsuits brought against the state as a result of their actions.
Government paid out in excess of $154 million over the period 2000-2003 for judgments and settlements agreed prior to the year 2000. Of the 128 cases brought before the Supreme Court over the three-year period, 58 were actions against members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force for assault and/or false imprisonment and/or malicious prosecution.
Citing the burden these cases were placing on the Government, Nicholson yesterday told the Senate that he would “bring something here that would seek bi-partisan support requiring members of the security forces to stand some of the costs incurred when they run afoul of the law”.
Last year, Government made an ex-gratia payment to 32 year-old Clinton Bernard, who was shot and crippled by Constable Paul Morgan in 1990. Morgan became angry and fired his weapon after Bernard refused to be bullied into giving up his space in a line formed to use a public phone.
Morgan later fled the island and though the state is protected from prosecution where citizens are injured by rogue cops acting outside of their duties, the Government agreed to pay $2.5 million in damages.
At the time, Prime Minister P J Patterson said that irrespective of what might be the strict interpretation of the law, the requirements of justice suggest that the person who suffers as a result of an improper act by a police officer should be properly compensated.
Meanwhile, of the 58 cases brought against the police between 2000 and 2003, only one was settled out of court, in 2001. The number of cases, however, have dropped from 30 in the year 2000, to 15 in 2001 and 13 last year.
There have been calls, in previous years, to have lawmen pay some of the costs incurred but the argument has not been far advanced.
Nicholson, who was responding to questions from Senator Arthur Williams on outstanding payments to be made in cases where judgments had been made against the state, said that as a result of cases brought before the Supreme Court between 2000 to 2003, the Government still owes a total of $90.7 million to aggrieved parties because of “budgetary constraints”.
He stressed, however, that while only $22 million had been paid out in judgments and settlements during that period, the state had actually paid out substantially more than that. He explained that in 2001, for example, payments of $74 million were made to cover motor vehicle accidents, ex-gratia payments and settlements for matters for which no suit had been filed.