ONE WEEK after a police sergeant was arrested on reasonable suspicion of supplying guns and ammunition to an illegal weapons shop, four more members of the police force have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

The sergeant, whose name is being withheld, is yet to be charged and remains in custody as investigations continue following the seizure of 19 guns and almost 11,000 rounds of ammunition on Munster Road in eastern St Andrew.

However, as the force tries to recover from that body blow, it is now dealing with four more police personnel allegedly involved in criminality.

This time three members of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) and a constable in the Jamaica Constabulary Force are in trouble for alleged breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.

Strict conditions

The ISCF members, Woman Special Constable Keisha Steele, Special Constable Owen Brown and Special Sergeant Ian Young, were charged by members of the Anti-Corruption Branch and taken before the Yallahs Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The woman special constable was remanded, while the two men were offered bail in the sum of $500,000 each.

As a condition of their bail, Brown and Young were ordered to surrender their travel documents, and to report to a police station once per week. A stop order was also placed on the two at the island's ports.

The court was told the policemen and woman solicited money from a vendor after they seized a quantity of illegal DVDs he was selling in Morant Bay, St Thomas.

The vendor reported the matter to the Anti-Corruption Branch and, following investi-gations, the three were held during a sting operation. They are scheduled to return to court on February 18.

In the meantime, a constable was arrested by members of the Anti-Corruption Branch last week Wednesday on reasonable suspicion of breaching the Corruption Prevention Act.

It is alleged that on Saturday, January 30, the constable apprehended a watch vendor and accused him of buying and selling gold.

Drive to weed out corruption

The policeman then demanded and accepted $10,000 from the vendor to not prosecute him. The matter was reported to the Anti-Corruption Branch and the constable arrested.

He remains in police custody awaiting an identification parade.

The Police High Command has launched a sustained drive to rid the force of corrupt cops, with more than 60 being arrested last year and almost 10 detained since the start of the year.

Numerous allegations surrounding the involvement of members of the police force in illegal activities are before the director of public prosecutions for a ruling, while several cops were kicked out of the force last year for suspected wrongdoing.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com