Detecting detection

POLICE ARE facing tough questions all over the world – including here, where police killings of civilians recently triggered outcry and disruption – so any good news about those who protect and serve is welcome.

But the statistics given at police headquarters on Monday relating to the detection rate bear further investigation.

“We have been able to charge more people for murder than we did for all of last year,” Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith said. Deputy commissioner McDonald Jacob added that a total of 41 murders have been “solved.”

“We are indicating to you that we are improving,” Jacob said.

On that day, the murder toll for the year stood at 252 as compared to 299 last year.

Any effort that reduces the murder rate is good. But though the police believe these figures are the outcome of better intelligence, reorganisation and the improved use of technology, there is also room for speculation about the impact of the covid19 lockdown.

The murder rate declined in 2011 when a similarly unprecedented situation, a state of emergency, occurred.

Be that as it may, the deterrent impact of a higher number of charges is potentially significant.

Still, it is one thing to charge; a completely different thing to successfully prosecute.

The distinction is not helped by the confusing use of terminology: “solved” is not “convicted.” Indeed, the trial process is designed to test clinically the assertion that a particular person committed a crime.

Absence of effective oversight also means figures will always be questioned.

Cover-ups, the planting of evidence, disappeared court exhibits, gaps at forensics, set-ups, forced “confessions,” scapegoat arrests, police brutality – these are not things we only see in movies. They regularly feature in lawsuits against the State.

The mismanaged response to the spate of police killings only worsens this kind of distrust.

As do efforts by public officials to politicise the police by inviting innuendo on the political platform.

The swift pace of “political” probes, while murder cases are left outstanding, regularly raises eyebrows.

And this leads to another issue – to be fair, one already acknowledged by the police themselves. Some of the statistics for this year’s detection seem to relate to murders that occurred previously. Jacob said there were actually 59 murders solved this year; the additional ones were matters from years before.

So what we really need to do is take a long-term view. How many murders remain outstanding?

Also, is a detection rate of about 16 per cent good enough, when countries like Jamaica have a rate of approximately 40 per cent?

We need better, clearer results.

Meanwhile, no matter what gloss is put on the figures, the Police Service Commission, among others, should take note of the performance of the top brass.