Give the PCA more teeth

The protests in east Port of Spain on July 4 were only the most recent expression of anger by citizens after young men were killed by police officers.

There is clearly need for greater public confidence in the oversight and review of police field operations that end in violence.

The announcement on Friday that eight officers were arrested for their part in the killing of Joel Jacob, Noel Diamond and Israel Moses Clinton in June 2020 offered hope that an internal investigation might lead to prosecution, but arguments for special treatment lingered over the arrest process.

Attorney Ulric Skerrit complained, without irony, that his clients were being treated like common criminals and were being kept in cells without a mattress.

Ten other officers are still being investigated as part of what police described as a conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice and misbehaviour in office.

During the two years before the investigation led to arrests, the DPP viewed a re-enactment of the killings, captured on CCTV footage, as part of the forensic investigation.

These are not the only cases examining police management of incidents in the field that are pending resolution.

The police involved fatal shooting of Yasin Richardson in June 2018 did not result in a charge until October 2021.

Between October 2019 and September 2020, the PCA assessed 737 complaints and found 396 within its legal remit, 13 of them involving a fatal shooting.

Of those, just 12 were sent to the CoP and DPP. Seven were sent to the DPP directly.

In addition to its investigation and reporting, the PCA issued 13 points of procedural advice to the CoP that year.

Have any of them been implemented in the service of increased vigilance and transparency in police operations?

These tensions between the police service and the need for an independent oversight are not unique to TT.

For decades, the Jamaica Constabulary Force worked to police itself. First through a Police Public Complaints Authority established in the 1990s, and later the Police Civilian Oversight Authority.

Jamaica's police killings weren't substantively reduced until 2010, when the Independent Commission of Investigation (Indecom) was established. Jamaican officers weren't happy, but killings dropped from 258 in 2013 to 115 in 2014, when 21 officers were convicted on criminal misconduct charges.

The notable difference? The police investigations unit was replaced by Indecom while the PCA remains limited in the scope and powers of investigation and prosecution.

Established in 2018, the UK's Independent Office for Police Conduct was empowered by legislative changes in 2017 to instruct officers on evidence gathering and securing evidence and reports directly to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Its operations are transparent for all involved parties and an investigation report is published after cases are concluded.

Might the experiences of Jamaica and the UK offer guidance on how the PCA might be made more effective?