Questionable Conduct: The Jamaican Political Reality

The original plan completed in January 2010 envisioned the JCF role to arrest, search for evidence and execute the warrant on Dudus; whereas the JDF role at the time would be to provide a cordon to allow this to occur. However, the original focus changed. DCP Glenmore Hinds explains: "It did when the situation was no longer a law enforcement activity but a security operation, when the blockades were reinforced with explosives, when men began to fire at our assets, loot and destroy our assets. It became a situation that our law enforcement assets was just not able to respond.”      (Source; Tivoli COE, Day 30, May 26, 2015, p 48) The Operational Report Extradition of Christopher “Dudus” Coke 2010 had identified possible escape routes and counter measures: ‘The subject and other targets may attempt to evade capture by using the following routes to escape from the community: – Industrial Terrace – Spanish Town Road vicinity Tivoli Courts – Lizard Town Entrance – ...

From the evidence adduced at the Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry there was no joint Police-Military operation in May 2010 with the prime purpose of executing the arrest warrant for Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Officially, the warrant for the arrest of Coke was the remit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). However, given the very limited capabilities of the JCF, the assistance of the Jamaica Defence (JDF) was critical to any such operation, even more so given the influence and resources of the Don in question. So in all operations even a token presence of a member of the JCF was mandatory outside of a declared state of emergency. In the latter case the army is given overwhelming police powers, chief among which is the power to arrest. Hence under a declared state of emergency army units need not have a member of the JCF present. It is against this background that the operation to capture Coke must be assessed. • The surveillance party was composed of resources from t...