Homosexuality In The Jamaican Police Force (Transcript)
Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of homophobia, homophobic language, murder and police brutality. There are also brief mentions of slavery and rape.
By no stretch, is the Jamaica Constabulary Force the most loved civil servant organisation. However, the organisation colonial roots, anti-blackness and the nation’s homophobia have lead to an almost century long belief that the organisation is been overrun by queer male police officers. Early Days of Policing in Jamaica
Like most things in Jamaica, organised policing has it roots in colonialism. The earliest record of organised policing in Jamaica was in a 1671 letter from Charles II of England, who called for the provost marshal to create an assembly to maintain order in the country. He also stated that indentured labourers, plantation owners and enslaved Black people to volunteer for this private policing. Then in 1716, a more structured organising was created when a law was passed that allowed for those policing to to be on salary. Their duties includes making arrests, serving summons, and catching enslaves Black people who do not have tickets. By 1777, the former law was enacted that expanded the power of these policing officers and even to recruit persons to oversee so called petty crimes. In the wake of the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, fears that Black people were becoming more rebellious and have the ability to overpower local policing officers, calls were made for the government to established a more organised and permanent law enforcement entity. As such, in 1832, a law was passed establishing a permanent and the most organised police force up to this point. Recruits, all men, were clothed and armed in the imagine of the British Army and was given the power to use whatever means possible against enslaves Black people to preserve public peace. These persons were stationed in Port Royal, other areas of Kingston and St Andrew as well as those in St Catherine; and were required to report to their respective Justice of the Peace. With this new structured informal policing on the island taking form, someone needed to be in charge. So come 1835, William Ramsay became the first inspector general of this police force. After emancipation in 1838, this jurisprudence of Jamaican expanded where the policing force continue to exist where there upped recruitment. Still, its key to remember one of the reasons why this form of policing was created - to so called “curb” Black people of any kind of political organising. So it should come as no surprise that this police, as agents of the colonial state, become an oppressive force to Black people. In his paper, “Such a Mass of Disgusting and Revolting Cases’: Moral Panic and the ‘Discovery’ of Sexual Deviance in Post-Emancipation Jamaica (1835–1855)”, the historian Dr. Jonathan R. Dalby, sums up how the white population of the island saw Black people as this time: “In the eyes of the island’s elite, the black Jamaican was no longer merely lazy and unreliable; he was also thieving, licentious and violent”.
And so with this thinking by the police, by white ruling class, by the courts, harassment by the police towards the Black population would continue throughout the mid 1800’s and just like they were mandated, they did whatever means to curb anything and anyone who challenge the colonial state. But then came 1865. The Formation of the Jamaica Constabulary Force
In 1865, a land dispute in St Thomas would capture the attention of community organisers in the parish. The issue of land rights in Jamaica we explored on a previous Lest We Forget episode, “The Fight To Own Land In Jamaica”. Nevertheless, this land dispute got the attention of a local baptist, Paul Bogle, who organised around the issue. Now, the legacy of Bogle is that he and his community marching to Morant Bay courthouse, but the courthouse was not there initial destination - it was the local police station. And the distaste for the local police was demonstrated by the crowd who gathered who gathered on October 11. In the end, the crowd beat two out of the three police officers who were at the station: George Fuller Osbourne and William Lake. After this was done, the crowd made their way to the courthouse. In the end, this event marked the beginning of what would blossomed into one of the most important events that took place in the colonial British West Indies - The Morant Bay Rebellion. Now, this rebellion by and large was a racial riot born out of years of oppression that Black people had to face post-emancipation. It also demonstrated, in the eyes of the white ruling class, how inefficient the current policing on the island was. As such, born out of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion, was a more improved, organised and coordinated police force - the Jamaica Constabulary Force.In his 2015 poetry collection, “Providential”, where the Jamaican police took centerstage, Colin Channer, writes in the poem, “First Recruits”:“They answered when the Queen
called, wanting constables,
dependables,
regulars to keep order after riot
rumbled to rebellion back in 1865,
the year impatience with the free
we’d got came out in uprush”.
Early Rumours
Now, the JCF began operations with 984 members under the direction of an inspector general appointed by the British colonial office. Still, just a few years after its operation, the colonial nature of the force was obvious as it became very clear which Jamaicans were been protected, served and reassured by the force. The blatant double standard that non-white Jamaicans would faced, led to them, mostly Black Jamaicans, having a distained for the force - especially towards Black officers. In their paper, “Black Police Power: The Political Movement of the Jamaica Constabulary”, Dr. Eilat Maoz states: “But while soldiers enjoyed the prestige of seeing the empire (as they still do), policemen’s daily dealings with the people brought little pride or satisfaction. Tasked with quelling periodic riots and exacting legal violence on their social equals policemen were feared and resented”
Now by the beginning of the 1900’s, this distain for the JCF, the growing weariness of trust towards them, as well as the fraternity nature of the organisation since at this time women were not allowed in the force led to a few rumours about the Jamaican police. One of these rumours was of homosexual behaviours within the force but it was just that - rumours. But then in 1912, Claude McKay, who would become one of Jamaica’s most notably literary icons, published his poetry collection, “Constab Ballads”, where a few poems explored these rumours. Thus, “Constab Ballads” become one of the first art expressions of homosexual intimacy in post emancipation Jamaica. An Ode to Bennie
Many literature scholars and historians have deemed Constab Ballads an autographical account. This is so as Claude McKay served as a constable in the Jamaican police force for six months in 1911. He was trained and mostly stationed on clerical duty in Spanish Town and Half-Way Tree. It would be a few months after starting the job that “Constab Ballads” was published. In the collection was the poem - “Bennie's Departure”, where the narrator spoke on his desire for his fellow constable, Bennie. Towards the end of the 212-line poem, the narrator express his intense grief of Bennie departure from the force: “Hands gripped tight, but not a tear fell
As I looked into his face,
Said de final word o’ farewell,
An’ returned back to my place:
At my desk I sat me dry-eyed,
Sometimes gave a low-do’n moan,
An’ at moments came a sigh sighed
For my Bennie dat was gone”
The poem ends with:In the same collection is also the poem ‘Consolation’ where the poetic voice seems to have found a lover within the Force. The poem reads:“A comrade came an' sat by me,
Restin' a hand upon my knee;
De lantern old was burnin' dim,
But bright 'nough for me to see him:
One searchin' look into his face,
I gave him in my heart a place”
A few months later after the publication of “Constab Ballads” and the death of his mother, McKay would leave Jamaica for tertiary education in the US and would continue his literature career where he became one of the pioneers of the Harlem Renaissance. Still, “Constab Ballads” legacy hold up in Jamaica’s space and the rumours of homosexuality been rampant with the JCF continued through the early 1900’s. This, as one can imagine, did not help the image of the force in the eyes of Jamaicans. By the 1940’s, in the wake of the 1938 Labour Protest where police officers clashed with citizens, the constant attack on Rastafari communities and the subsequent publication of the Moyne Commission, efforts were made to reorganise the police force. London Metropolitan Police Superintendent, W..A. Calver was sent to Jamaica to oversee the efforts. However, the efforts brought fort an argument that the police force was been overrun by colonial and imperialist forces. To note, black officers were largely regulated to low level ranks in the force. As Dr. Maoz would summarise: “Jamaican policemen thought Calver would undermine their demands to become commanding officers and strengthen white supremacy”
Another change that occurred in the 1940’s, was the JCF now allowing women to entire force. On January 1, 1949 three women were enlisted in the JCF. They were Iris Tulloch, Sylvia Myers and Florence Nelson. Tulloch remained in the JCF the longest, attaining the rank of Superintendent in 1976.However, at this time, the Cold War was shaping up and the US was experiencing the Red Scare where alleged communists were targeted, questioned and if found guilty were subsequently ousted from federal agencies. By 1950, the US was now expanding their economic and military arms further in the Caribbean and as such, the same “communist scare” would occurred in Jamaica. Most famous of this was in 1950 when the PNP expelled four members over their alleged communist views. Now dub the 4 H’S, the ex-members were: Frank Hill, Ken Hill, Arthur Henry and Richard Hart.But as the US went through their Red Scare, another moral panic came out of this - the Lavender Scare. Beginning in 1950, the Lavender Scare was the targeting, questioning and if found guilty, the subsequent persecution of alleged queer persons in federal institutions. All of these events - the changes in the JCF, the continued colonial model of operations, the Red and Lavender Scare in the US; all of that would come to head in 1951 and brought up back the decades old rumour that the Jamaican Constabulary Force is "fostering homosexuals behaviours”. And this time, the Jamaican government got involved. The 1951 Commission of Inquiry in the JCF
In February 27, 1951, Wills O. Issacs, the PNP member of parliament for Central Kingston got up in parliament where he declared his dissatisfaction with the JCF: “Whereas there is grave dissatisfaction among all ranks in the Jamaica Constabulary, and
Whereas the force has deteriorated considerably since Mr Calver assumed the position of Commissioner of the Force and
Whereas reports that are very disquieting have been emanating from the Force, and
Whereas an efficient and contended body of men are essential to the safety of the public:
Be it resolved that this House hereby request Government to at once set up a Commission of Inquiry to inquire into all phases of the Police Force operations, and the terms of reference to the Commission should be as wide as possible”
As he continue to call for an investigation into the force, Isaac’s justified his called even more by claiming accusations of homosexuality been rampant among the police officers. This homosexuality, Issacs, however place the blamed at Mr Calver and the imported police officers. By this time, many Jamaicans were of the view, that homosexuality in their society was because foreign tourists. Furthermore, Fernando Henriques, who is said to be the only social scientist writing about homosexuality in Jamaican society in the mid 1900’s, came out with his own theory on this topic. As Dr Matthew Chin would summarise in his paper, “Antihomosexuality and Nationalist Critique in Late Colonial Jamaica”: “First he [Henriques] considers homosexuality to be a psychological condition that can be divided into ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ types. Second, while he grants that “natural” homosexuality may exist in rural Europe, in Jamaica homosexuality is ‘induced’… in Jamaica, the primary conditions that ‘induced’ homosexuality are the opportunities to make money occasioned by the sexual desires of foreign men such as sailors and especially tourists”
And so, Issacs motion for this commission of inquiry into the force, was supported by every member in the House of Parliament. On the 9th of April, 1951, the commission of inquiry began at the Jamaica’s Supreme Court in Kingston. The judge was Justice Alfred Rennie, with the brigadier general, Horace Sewell and the doctor, George Frederick Baxter. From April 9th to May 25th, the commission heard from 206 witnesses, and reviewed 109 documents to inquire “whether there was reasonable cause to believe that any and if any, what officers could sub-officers or constable of the Jamaican Constabulary Force were addicted to homosexual practices or had committed or attempted to commit any unnatural offence with any other officer, sub-officer or constable of the said Force or had attempted to induce any other officer, sub officer or constable of the said Force to commit or to submit to any such unnatural practices.”As such, in the almost month and half legal event, Jamaicans would tune in to hear the private life of the nation’s police officers where witnesses would recall overly friendly conversations between officers and other suspicious behaviours. But the highlight of the trial was the cross examination of superintendent John Lindsay Munro whose relations with sergeant Robert Henry Stewart captured the commission attention. As the Gleaner reported in a May 23rd, 1951 article titled, “Supt Says He Bathed, Drank With Sgt”, this is how the cross examination of Superintendent Munro goes: The Chairman: What was Stewart’s rank at that time
Supt Munro: First-class constable
The Chairman: Is it a usual thing for a Superintendent to visit the home of an acting corporal
Supt Munro: It has happened before. It isn’t unusual.
The Chairman: Have you been seen in bars drinking with Stewart?
Supt Munro: Yes, your Honour but I am unable to say how often
The Chairman: Is that unusual
Supt Munro: It is not usual Your Honour, but it has happened on other occasions with other officers
The Chairman: Have you been sunbathing with him?
Supt Munro: Yes, sir, at Oracabessa beach
The Chairman: When you sea-bathing has he ever claimed on your shoulders
Supt Munro: I should like to say that other men dive off each other shoulders
The Chairman: Has Sergeant Stewart ever been a guest at your house
Supt Munro: Yes, sir but he has never stayed at my house
The Chairman: When Sergt Stewart was transferred from Point Maria you know where stayed
Supt Munro: I have no idea but subsequently he stayed with relatives in Lincoln Road
Further questioned by the chairman, the commission stated that when the Sergt Stewart when to Port Maria, his luggage was taken to Superintendent Munro home. In the final hours of this day of questioning, the commission returned its attention on superintendent Munro: The Chairman: Where did Stewart go?
Supt Munro: He went on leave to Westmoreland
The Chairman: Did you go to Westmoreland, whilst Stewart was on leave
Supt Munro: Yes, sir
The Chairman: What were you doing there?
Supt Munro: I was staying with friends
The Chairman: It has been alleged before us Superintendent Munro that the relationship between yourself and Sergt Stewart is an unnatural one.
Supt Munro: Certainly not Your Honour. That is an unfair and untrue statement.
In the end, the homosexuality accusation brought against the Force, was dismissed by the commission. But Issacs was unmoved for as he himself said, “My activities have been to show that this is an outcome of imperialism. My whole idea is to get charge of the State. When I get full self-government in my country, I will reform the Police Force”
Still, it was not only Issacs but the public who were not deterred for almost two decades after the commission of inquiry, the rumour once more took control of Jamaica society. It enter the public psyche on October 24, 1969, when the Gleaner published an article by Thomas Wright, where he stated:“For a very long time now, there has been the matter of homosexuality – a habit in the force which was originally imported but which I’m sorry to say was adopted in some circles with enthusiasm... In an organisation like the police force this can be unfortunate; and if you can couple with this fact that homosexuality is still against the law in Jamaica, it exposes the homosexual to blackmail or other pressure – a very serious matter if the homosexual in question is a member of the police force. On the topic of this, I have reason to believe that homosexuality in the force is also one of the factors discouraging recruitment”
Immediately, Wright’s article sparked a public debate. Weeks later, Etta-Mae Forsythe, then President of the Housewives Association of St Catherine, wrote an article, titled “Homosexuality,” which was published in The Gleaner on November 19, 1969. In her article she spoke on how homosexuality in the Force should be a great concern for the larger society where homosexuality must be treated as an illness. She writes: “Efforts must be made to treat the condition as an illness and secretly be urged to adopt a different method of approach to the homosexual condition… It is a great pity that, in big organisations like the Police Force, we could not have an attending psychologist to detect and determine the causes of such abnormality, further, to recommend medical or give psychiatrist help. In advanced countries there are always industrial psychologists as consultants in big industries as also in big organisations. There is a crying need here to which attention needs to be directed”.
She ended her letter with: “Ever since I was a child - which is many moons ago - I have heard “hush-hush” rumours of homosexuals in the Force. Now that Thomas Wright has made such an open statement, probably some attention will be given to the matter, because we are always expecting the men in our Police Force to set the pattern since they have to see to the observance of the law.”
Now the late 1960’s moral panic, did not lead to another investigation into the force but come the 1970’s, another rumour birth out of political manipulation, would have the JCF fighting oppositions on all sides.Oppositions on All Sides.
In the 1970’s, the first major change to the JCF came in the aftermath of PNP winning the general election in 1972. The newly minted prime minister Michael Manley would announced that his government would be taking a democratic socialist approach to public policy while doing away with “colonial trauma”. This created a ripple effect in the wider society, including the police force. So by 1973, the Police Service Commission appointed Basil Robinson as commissioner of the JCF. At this time, in the institution almost 110 year existed, he was the first black commissioner. This would be welcome by many. As Ellsworth Johnson, who was serving in the force at this time said: “Prior to the 70’s, most people who worked in banks were very light skins and Chinese. Blacks were seldomly seen, the most you could see Black people as teachers and nurses, but there were other professions that you would definitely see the classism and the racial biases. Policemen were Black, the ranks and file, but the Commissioner was always white and many senior officers who came from England… Them did drive big black cars, that we, as young recruits, were told to clean until they sparkled”
In the aftermath of Robinson new post, Dr. Maoz states:“On a symbolic and material level, the appointment did make a difference for an entire generation of Black policemen who, for the first time, could imagine themselves being promoted to the highest ranks”
Along with this new black commissioner, the government raise salaries, renovated a number of stations and expanded recruitment nationwide. With all of this happening, it was aiding in the public relations of the force, in the eyes of the public. As Dr Maoz further stated: “This advent of democratic socialism meant that the government now echoed demands for change. For policemen, this implied the potential for radical transformation in their own social position, releasing them from the contradiction between the police and the state… This project redrew the lines of social conflict, positing a division between colonisers and colonised, masters and servants, capitalists and workers, planters and peasants, whites and Blacks. It offered a vision in which the police and the people might hold shared interested. This vision, though rife with tensions, promised to redeem individual policemen from subjective alienation, which they had endured privately for decades”.
However, by the mid 1970’s, an economic downturn occurred when the Manley government took certain positions that were opposed to US interests. As such, the police force, one of many public institutions who suffered, saw their resources shrink immensely. This did not help as Jamaica’s crime rate was on the rise as the country, by 1978, was on the brink of a civil war. By this time, there was the formation of the first organised queer activist community in Jamaica - the Gay Freedom Movement. Through their newsletter ‘Toilet Paper’, their newspaper, ‘Jamaican Gaily News’ and the establishment of their free clinic, ‘the Gay Community Health Clinic’, the organisation sought to “provide a sense of community for queer Jamaicans, while combating homophobia and sexual discrimination in Jamaican society”But even though, Jamaica now had its first organised queer movement, the rumour of queerness been rampant in the police force would take a back seat because another allegation was flung upon on the force. This time, it was all in the name of politics, as members of the JLP, now in opposition, publicly announce that the JCF was been infiltrated by communists. Unlike the 50’s and 60’s, it was not the gays to be feared in the force but the communists. So whatever trust was gained between the police force and the wider public in the early 1970’s, that was do way by the end of the decade. By the 1980’s, with crime out of control, the Police Federation publicly calling for the removal of the Minister of National Security - Dudley Thompson. With this the JLP would now change their stance on the force and start to back the police. So in their members’ new utterances, it was not the police force that was infiltrated with communists anymore but it was a small group of persons, backed by the PNP, who were specially trained in combat in Cuba, who were instigating the crime. But the bad publicity towards the police was already done. Nevertheless, as history would have it, the JLP would regain power in October 1980. And now with a conservative government in power, with backing from the US, aid and foreign investment flowed in the country. This allowed the resources to reach the force where there was influx of arms and vehicles given to them. And yet, as crime continue to rise, the Jamaican police never made any strides in their relationship with the public. This was largely due to do with a rise in extrajudicial police killings and discrimination towards persons in inner city communities across the corporate area. Still, by the mid 1990’s, there was not a lot been said in the mainstream about queerness in the police force. One would be somewhat correct in saying, the rumour of queer infiltration within the police force had die down. But come 1997, one incident would demonstrate how paranoid law enforcements have become with queer allegations flung upon them and even so would showcase how extremely dangerous it have become for anyone to be openly identify as an homosexual in Jamaican society. The Gay Cleanse
By 1997, Jamaica was seeing a steady rise in HIV/AIDS cases across the country and one of the source of this increases was prisons. So on August 19, 1997, the then commissioner of corrections, Colonel John Prescod, announced on radio that condoms will be distributed to prisoners and warders as a part of an AIDS prevention campaign. To note, this is not the first time in history that male sexual intercourse in Jamaica prisons have caught the government attention. Back in 1849, news broke out about “serial sodomy” at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre (General Penitentiary). Nevertheless, in the wake of the commissioner announcement about the distributions of condoms, prisoners and warders made their opposition of this known, immediately. From August 20 to 23 both a strike by warders and a riot organised by prisoners broke out in the island’s two largest prisons—the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre in Spanish Town and the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre (General Penitentiary) in Kingston. As reported in the media, both wardens and inmates believed that they would be condemned by society as homosexuals if this policy, implying men were having sex with other men in prisons, was implemented. By the end of the three-day incident, sixteen inmates were killed and over fifty injured. Investigations stated that it was a coordinated effort by “straight prisoners and wardens” to purge the prisons of those who they assumed to be queer. According to one of the persons who was incarcerated at the District’s Prison:“I couldn't walk free in prison because the warders would point me out. . . and prisoners were killing off gay men.”
This event became known as the “gay cleanse of Jamaica.” In the days following the incident, then trade union leader, Lambert Brown, of the University and Allied Workers Union (the wardens' trade union), suggested that the event occurred because of the incompetency of the commissioner. He stated that the loss of life was unfortunate but followed up with, “But I don’t like homosexuals.”The Jamaican government issued no statement against the homophobia of the event but instead ordered an commission of inquiry. And just like the 1951 incident, nothing major came out of it for all that was produced was thirty-seven pages long report which only had a page-and-a-half on homosexuality. Almost two years later, Third World Cop would be release and Deportee, played by dancehall artist, Ninja-Man, would highlight that the rumour was alive and well, when in coming in contact with a car full of police, he declares: Deportee: Run weh battybwoy
Ratty: Hey yeow, watch your mouth man. Me breden.
Deportee: So him a wah police
Ratty: Yew him a one a we, zeen. Doh test.
Ratty and Deportee’s conversation also showcase how the police in Jamaica is “othered” by citizens. But it was the character Rita, played by Andrey Reid, who served as a love interest for the main character, Capone, played by Paul Campbell, who clearly stated how regardless of class and race, just by been a police officer, you are seen as a traitor. “Remember when we use to go to school. You know you was my hero. I use to just love watch you play football. I didn’t like the game but I would just watch you play for hours. But then you start train in Spanish Town, I was a bit disappointed. It mek me feel so strange to see you become a police. It was as if you wasn’t part of us anymore.”
Still, other scenes of implying queerness within the police force would be highlighted in the movie. Not Nice - a rouge police officer played by Lenford Salmon - after been in a shoot out would exchange a few words with his fellow officer, Capone. Capone: A weh you a do?
Not Nice: You neva see him shoot the policeman?
Capone: No. You dweet. Don’t fuck yourself
Not Nice: Watch yuh back, battybwoy
New Century, Same Problems
Still, the homophobic remarks of characters in Third World Cop would eventually become a reflection within the larger society. As the new century drew to a close queer Jamaicans and anyone alleged to be queer were targeted. And despite activism from the then newly founded queer activist group, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexual and Gays (JFLAG)- which was founded in 1998, the moral panic around homosexuality only got worse. The issue would even become more of a political tool. Years prior, in 1997, Edward Seaga, in his capacity as the president of JLP and opposition leader, would declare, that, “nobody can sing Boom Bye Bye for me.” This was in the wake of societal rumours on the alleged sexual orientation of then prime minister, PJ Patterson. Seaga’s utterance was an analogy of Buju Banton’s infamous 1992 song, “Boom Bye Bye” which called for the gruesome execution of queer Jamaicans. (Buju Banton has said that he has removed the song from all of streaming platforms that he has access to and his performance set). Nevertheless by the next general election, the prime minister’s sexuality became a political tactic when one of JLP’s electoral theme songs was T.O.K.’s ‘Chi Chi Man’ (Like Buju, the members of T.O.K. has announced that they have retired ‘Chi Chi Man’ from their discography). To these utterances of PJ’s alleged sexuality along the opposition campaign trail, academic and political commentator, Dr Carolyn Cooper stated:“Without any evidence... Edward Seaga insinuated that former prime minister P.J. Patterson was gay. Seaga also called P.J. a black scandal bag and the leader of a “mongrel party”. Presumably, P.J. was a mongrel like the rest of his party. But I’m certain that the homosexual slur was the most damning of the intended insults.”
Still, she was right, for soon after, a clearly provoked and upset Patterson, declared on a live broadcast of the HOT 102 morning show Breakfast Club: “My credentials as a lifelong heterosexual person are impeccable...Anybody who tries to say otherwise is just engaged in smearing and in vulgar abuse”
As a party, the PNP retaliated by making their general electoral campaign slogan ‘Log On To Progress’, which was inspired by Elephant Man’s “Log On.” - another homophobic song.Nevertheless, the JCF was facing their own issues because in the wake of queer Jamaicans and alleged queer Jamaicans been attacked, harassed, and murdered, there were reports where police officers, themselves were complacent or turned a blind eye to these incidents.In June 2004, a mob chased and stoned to death a man they perceived to be gay. Eyewitnesses reported that police officers joined in the attack. Then in a April 2007 attack of queer mourners at a funeral, police officers were called to the scene but refused to intervene. Almost two months before, on Valentine's Day, four queer men were chased by a mob of about 200 persons. By the time the men sought refuge in a pharmacy and the police arrived, the officers verbally abused the men - one of whom was Gareth Henry, the then head of J-FLAG. Henry stated that this was one of three incidents where he was assaulted by the police. After the attacks, he continued to receive threats on his life from the police which became so bad that by 2008 he had to flee the island. In another case reported by Human Rights Watch, a gay man reported to the police about him being blackmailed, only for the police to demand he pay them to hide his sexual orientation. Steve Harvey, the notable HIV/AIDS activist, spoke on the numerous occasions between 2003 and 2004 where he and other members of JASL were harassed by police officers while distributing condoms to persons. In fact, in 2003, a JASL outreach worker was arrested and charged with loitering for handing out condoms to men. Then, in a 2004 report by the Human Rights Watch, several gay men spoke on how police officers demanded money from them and arrested or beat them when they refused to pay. The report also spoke on a 2002 incident where two lesbian women were approached by police officers, and threatened to charge them for indecent and lewd exposure for being at a lover’s spot on a beach. When they refused to pay, they were taken to a police station, and although not charged, were told their names would be recorded in a register. Neither of these women were out and even though lesbian intimacy in Jamaica is not illegal, been a openly queer women at this time had it consequences. For example in 2010, J-FLAG had reports of six cases of “corrective rape,” in which men forced themselves on women thought to be lesbians, so they can be turned straight. In one of these cases a woman was held at knifepoint and raped after being forced to perform oral sex on her attacker. Her companion, another woman, was gang-raped by a group of four men. Still, by the middle of the decade in 2006, Time Magazine would dubbed the island, “the most homophobic place on Earth”. Then in 2008, prime minister, Bruce Golding, during a interview with the BBC programme, Hard Talk, stated that queer Jamaicans will not be allowed in his Cabinet. But near the end of the decade where it seems there was a calculated attack on queer Jamaicans from all sides of society, one politician decided to channel the spirit of Wills O. Issacs.Ernest Smith’s Time To Shine
On February 10, 2009, MP for South West St Ann, Ernest Smith, stood up in parliament and declared that the Police Force was overrun with gays. And as one can imagine, the JCF was not please. In a February 15, 2009 article called, “Cops See Red!”, the Gleaner reports:“Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are incensed at remarks made on Tuesday by attorney-at-law and South West St Ann Member of Parliament Ernest Smith. The MP had made stinging comments about the lawmen in Parliament saying the force was “overrun” by gays. Chairman of the Police Officer’s Association (POA), Superintendent Michael James, told the Gleaner yesterday that since media reports surfaced about Smith assertion, members of the institution have been infuriated.”
In the wake of numerous backlash, MP Smith eventually apologise to the Force. However, soon after, he delivered other parliamentary contributions where he stated that “homosexual activities seem to have overtaken this country”. As such, the “the buggery law” should be amended to impose sentences of up to life in prison. He then suggested that the Government make gay rights groups illegal as they were against the law where he called upon the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate J-FLAG and have them charged for conspiracy to corrupt public morals.Smith’s party, JLP, would distanced themselves from his comments while PNP would condemn them. However as life would have it, a few weeks later in March, Smith went on to defend a man who pleaded guilty to buggary charges. According to the now deceased Smith: “I am a professional person. Anyone who confides in me and believes in me that I will properly represent them in any case, provided I take the case, I give that person my 100 per cent expertise. My view on a particular behaviour in the Jamaican society has nothing to do with my professionalism. It has nothing to do with the quality of representation that I give every person who retains me to defend them”.
Back To Square One
Nevertheless, the rumour of the police force been run by homosexuals has more or less been forgotten in today’s Jamaica society. There have been some reference in pop culture though. One example is the character of ‘Shebada’ in Bashment Granny 2, where Keith Ramsey plays a sassy police officer. Still, the Jamaica Police Force has put measures in place to address their relationship with queer Jamaicans. Most notably of this was in 2011, when the organisation established a Diversity Policy which seemed to “explicitly prohibiting police officer from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation”.Even so, though the rumour of the police force been overrun with gays is no longer echoed in Jamaica society, the distrust between the public and the force is still present. In the 2012 short story collection, “Kingston Noir”, Marlon James’ contribution, “Immaculate”, has a the character, Grace McDonald, who evokes: “You pick up the phone to call the police, then you put it down because the police might be in on it too”
But as Ninja Man’s character, Deportee, said in Third World Cop:“No police nuh investigate. Dem only intimidate”.
Today, as Jamaica exist in the political wake of the plantation as it grapples with its exceptional violence, experts states that the Jamaican Constabulary Force has still not confronted how its colonial origins have shaped its method of crime fighting and to some extent, that affects their ability to deal with societal issues on the island. As former acting Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant puts it: “Post independence Jamaica maintained… the same kind of doctrine that ran the colonial establishment, the same approach towards the poor and dispossessed. Perhaps there is something that runs in the society in terms off how we solve problems, maybe it is a result of history, the hard punitive approach on the plantation, where justice was distributed immediately. This is a society that has not successfully processed its history”.