As part of ongoing efforts to build public trust and ensure transparency, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is moving to clarify for citizens exactly what it means to be arrested and under what circumstances arrests are made.
Speaking recently on the Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) Pon Di Corna Podcast, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Desmond Brooks, from the Force’s Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau (IPSOB), provided critical insights into the arrest process.
Responding to questions posed by Chief Executive Officer of the PCOA Otarah Byfield Nugent, ACP Brooks sought to bring greater clarity to a subject that affects every Jamaican.
“Arrest essentially is when your liberty or freedom is taken away from you. That is essentially what it is,” ACP Brooks explained. “You’re not free to leave, and any attempt to leave or any attempt to resist constitutes another offence, and that is added on top of the original offence for which you are being arrested. So, in one word, it means your freedom is being restricted, but you do have rights,” he emphasised.
ACP Brooks also detailed the three main situations in which police officers are authorised to make an arrest. “It is important for everyone to know when the police will arrest you. There are three broad areas or categories for arrest,” he said.
The first category is arrest based on suspicion, supported by information from a third party. “The police will arrest on suspicion, that is, if we get information from someone else, a third person, and only suspect that you’re committing an offence,” ACP Brooks clarified.
Another category is called “on view” arrest, where the police personally witness a crime taking place. “We call that ‘on view’. The police saw you commit an offence,” he said.
The third category applies when the police suspect that someone is about to commit an offence. ACP Brooks gave a practical example to illustrate this point. “So, if you are chasing a man with a machete and the man is apparently running for his life, the police don’t need to—or will not—wait until you actually commit the offence before making an arrest,” he explained.
“So, to recap—it’s either on view, based on information from a third person, or when we suspect you’re about to commit an offence,” ACP Brooks summarised.
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