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The government must be commended for the current attempts to rid the police force of ‘corrupt cops’. I am by no means suggesting that the police sergeant in this situation is guilty of corruption, the courts will decide that, but the government is clearly making an attempt to restore dignity and respect for the police force. This will have far reaching effects if successful as citizens will be more willing to come forward with information to assist the police in their attempts to combat crime. The government will also benefit from increased revenues as some of the money being used to bribe ‘corrupt cops’ will actually end up in the government coffers as law breakers are forced to pay fines etc. to the Inland Revenue.

The government must learn to multi-task however as there is another area that needs urgent ‘housekeeping’ and that is the Customs Department. Do not be mislead by the fanfare and praises that were leveled on representatives of the Customs Department during their recent celebrations. Some undoubtedly deserve it, but for others there is a ‘dark side’ of bribery an deceit. I suspect that government may be loosing far more revenue due to ‘corrupt’ customs officers than the revenue lost due to corrupt cops. It is being said that custom officers are the new ‘extortionists’.

Importers have been forced to live with these ‘extortionists’ as they have received no help from members of the Custom Brokers Association who have become the unwilling collectors for these rogue Custom Officers. We need some whistle blowers who can assist the police in busting open this racket that has robbed the government of badly needed revenue over the years. The importers can help also as they know the people who are beneficiaries of this unwholesome tax. If this is allowed to continue, the government will face an uphill battle in combating inflation as these importers simply pass on the cost of paying the bribe to the consumers by adding it to the cost of their products. This means that we can all be winners if we stamp out this practice.

Jamaica Gleaner News – Sergeant surrenders – Thursday | February 21, 2008