Dr. Phillips says Persons out to Ruin Jamaica

National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips has strongly denied that government was covering-up unlawful killings by the police and said that persons making allegations to the contrary were only out to ruin Jamaica’s reputation abroad and destroy morale within the police force.
“There is absolutely no foundation whatsoever for the allegations that have been made that there is any cover-up in relation to (police) killings, and those criticisms are valid neither in respect of the government nor in respect of the security forces”, he said to journalists after a tour of the newly built Summit Police Station in St. James on Friday (Nov.12).
“What disturbs me, is that there seems to be a clear design to destroy Jamaica’s reputation overseas, even in the face of the very difficult situation that the security forces and the country face as far as crime and violence is concerned”, he noted further.
The National Security Minister stated that if an honest assessment was done, it would come to light that the security forces and the government have put in place the most strenuous efforts to investigate allegations of police excesses, and to act in relation to submissions of the results of the investigations to the Director of Public Prosecution. He emphasized that prosecutions have been carried out where necessary, and the matters have been brought before the court.
“Once they go to the court, then it is a matter that the courts have to deal with”, he emphasized.
He also mentioned that the number of police killings had decreased steadily throughout the 1990s into the millennium as compared to the decades before.