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Police head to court to keep crooks in jail
Published: Friday | July 23, 2010
Police chief Owen Ellington (right) and Major General Stewart Saunders exchange a firm handshake at the top cop's headquarters yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer
CRIMINAL SUSPECTS have been warned not to view the cessation of a state of emergency as temptation to reimpose mayhem in communities.
"I want to warn them that if they return to the street and start back their criminal activities, generating violence and profiting off violence, they will feel the full weight of law enforcement," Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said yesterday.
Ellington was speaking at a press conference at his Old Hope Road, St Andrew, headquarters.
He told journalists that the police were seeking to keep some persons in detention who had been held during the state of emergency which ended at midnight.
"There is a hard core of 18 (persons) who we have not yet charged and in respect of whom we are trying to build cases. We will seek the permission of the court to remand these individuals. If we do not get it, we will release them from custody," Ellington said.
The extraordinary powers the police enjoyed under the state of emergency allowed them to detain persons for extended periods without charge.
The police may also have powers of detention for up to 60 days courtesy of the recently passed crime bills. These bills have not yet been signed into law.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead1.html
Published: Friday | July 23, 2010
Police chief Owen Ellington (right) and Major General Stewart Saunders exchange a firm handshake at the top cop's headquarters yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer
CRIMINAL SUSPECTS have been warned not to view the cessation of a state of emergency as temptation to reimpose mayhem in communities.
"I want to warn them that if they return to the street and start back their criminal activities, generating violence and profiting off violence, they will feel the full weight of law enforcement," Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said yesterday.
Ellington was speaking at a press conference at his Old Hope Road, St Andrew, headquarters.
He told journalists that the police were seeking to keep some persons in detention who had been held during the state of emergency which ended at midnight.
"There is a hard core of 18 (persons) who we have not yet charged and in respect of whom we are trying to build cases. We will seek the permission of the court to remand these individuals. If we do not get it, we will release them from custody," Ellington said.
The extraordinary powers the police enjoyed under the state of emergency allowed them to detain persons for extended periods without charge.
The police may also have powers of detention for up to 60 days courtesy of the recently passed crime bills. These bills have not yet been signed into law.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead1.html