Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Sunday announced that the government will be providing funding to pay the legal expenses for policemen charged by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).
Lawyers representing scores of policemen charged by INDECOM recently withdrew their service due to the non-payment of more than J$100 million owed to them by the government.
This sparked anger among rank and file members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force with the Police Federation urging the government to provide assistance.
Holness, addressing the public session of the Annual Conference of the Jamaica Labour Party, said the govenrment has heard the cries of the police officers.
“I believe that sometimes iNDECOM goes to far and places our police officers on the retreat. I think a balance has to be struck. We need our policemen to feel that they are protected to fight crime and not be exposed . And so in our supplementary estimates we have heard the cries of the police…..and so we have provided a sum of resources in the supplementary budget to support the legal fees and the legal teams of the policemen so that when they are doing their jobs rightfully, they have legal support to go through that process."
He however argued that INDECOM has a major role to play as it ensures that the rights of citizens are not abused by members of the secuirty forces.
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