Gang members could be forced to provide access to electronic devices, not under the criminal suppression act
Published:Monday | January 19, 2026 | 12:13 AM
Jason Cross/ Gleaner Writer
A proposal to give the police the ability to compel members of gangs to provide access to their personal electronic devices like cellular phones has been rejected by a joint select committee of Parliament discussing possible amendments to The Criminal Justice Suppression of Criminal Organisations Act 2014.
At Gordon House yesterday, lawmakers and experts concluded that a similar provision is already available under section 17 of the Cyber Crimes Act, which makes it unnecessary to enact it under the Suppression of Criminal Organisation Act.
Crown Counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, Hodine Williams, explained that under the Cyber Crimes Act, “data from these devices can be used in court because invariably, when we retrieve electronic devices, we send them in for analysis to see if we can actually gain access. Sometimes the accused persons would give you their pin code and hand it over to you. We keep it charged or pull out information from it before the battery dies, or we send it to the lab to access the information.”
Maurice Bailey, Director of Legal reform in the Ministry of Justice, pointed out that under the Cyber Crimes Act, it is a criminal offence for persons not refuse to hand over devices where warrant are presented.
Other topics discussed under the Criminal Justice Suppression of Criminal Organisations Act 2014 were a proposal from the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency regarding the treatment of non nationals believed to be part of a local gang. The Committee did not accept the recommendation.
Another recommendation which was not accepted, was the power of search and seizure, which would give the police powers to search members of gangs and their property without a warrant.
The committee also decided not to accept the inclusion of assaulting a police officer in execution of his duties under the Criminal Justice Suppression of Criminal Organisations Act 2014.