Rogue behaviour
Cops arrested, under probe for robbery and smuggling contraband into jail
Published:Monday | May 26, 2025 | 12:13 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
A police constable has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana and other contraband to a detainee at the problem-plagued Central Police Station lock-up in downtown Kingston, officials have confirmed.
He is one of two lawmen who were arrested on the weekend for their alleged involvement in criminal activities.
The other policeman, a detective corporal, was apprehended along Dyke Road in Portmore, St Catherine, on Saturday after he was allegedly found inside a car that was reportedly stolen at gunpoint in St Andrew hours earlier.
The police say a Glock 17 pistol, two magazines and 34 rounds of ammunition – all government-issued equipment belonging to the Jamaica Constabulary Force – were found during a search of the corporal.
He was also in possession of his official police identification.
The names of the two policemen have not been disclosed.
The constable was on duty at the Central Police Station on Saturday and was about to enter one of the cells when he was stopped and searched by an inspector, law- enforcement sources disclosed.
“He was warned last week about carrying things in [to detainees] and he denied it,” said one source, explaining the reason behind the search.
The search revealed chewing gums, weed and “other things”, the source claimed.
Superintendent Beresford Williams, commanding officer for the Kingston Central Police Division, dismissed claims that the items were intended for a well-known detainee in the jail as “sheer speculation”.
“We have nothing to support that aspect of it,” Williams insisted.
“We have a matter that we have under investigation. It has to do with the lock-up, [but] I don’t want to get into the specifics,” Williams disclosed, when contacted by The Gleaner yesterday.
“All I will say is that we have a constable in custody relating to breaches of lock-up procedures. The matter is to go to the DPP (director of public prosecutions) for a ruling, so I don’t want to make any comment on the specifics until we are there,” he said.
HISTORY OF MISCONDUCT
Central Police Station has a long history of incidents involving allegations of misconduct by cops.
In December 2021, a Jamaican man, Orville Pernell, reportedly “walked out” of his cell at the police lock-up where he was being held while awaiting extradition to St Lucia to face a charge of murder.
Pernell was apprehended in the US state of Georgia last month.
In 2023, a serial fraudster “mysteriously” walked out of his cell at a police lock-up in the Jamaican capital and was taken on a joyride that lasted several hours, The Sunday Gleaner reported, citing law-enforcement sources.
A statement released by the leadership of the police force, following the arrest of the corporal allegedly found in the stolen vehicle, said they remain committed to a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption among members and to upholding the rule of law “without fear or favour”.
“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any form of criminal conduct, particularly when perpetrated by those sworn to uphold the law. We will neither tolerate nor conceal wrongdoing in any quarters of the force,” the statement read.
“Any member who entertains criminal inclinations will find no refuge within our ranks. They will be relentlessly investigated and made to face the full force of the law.”
The incident involving the corporal began about 11:10 p.m. on Saturday, when cops were alerted to a robbery along Coleyville Avenue in St Andrew, according to the police statement.
A 19-year-old inDrive operator reported that he was robbed at gunpoint by an individual who entered and forcibly took control of his vehicle while it was in motion. He managed to escape unharmed.
The Police Emergency Communication Centre, acting on the report, triggered a rapid, cross-division operational response and the vehicle was electronically tracked to a location in St Catherine.
The vehicle was intercepted and recovered along Dyke Road near the JamWorld Complex in Portmore through the coordinated efforts of cops from the St Andrew South and St Catherine South divisions, the statement said.
“During the operation, an individual found inside the vehicle was identified as a detective corporal.”
The stolen vehicle was transported to the Greater Portmore Police Station, where it was processed by cops from the Scene of Crime Unit.
Several potential forensic exhibits were collected, the police statement said, adding that the probe is being led by the Criminal Investigations Branch.