Bunting: Commissioner to account for fatal police shootings
2012-03-27 16:00:18 | (0 Comments)

National Security Minister Peter Bunting adressing a Jamaica House press conference on national security recently- Ricardo Makyn/PhotographerDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

National Security minister Peter Bunting said the Jamaican Government is moving toward implementing a system to ensure the police reduce the number of fatal shootings.

“This administration will be holding the Commissioner of Police, and the High Command, accountable for a reduction of the level of police fatal shootings,” Bunting said today.

He was addressing Parliament by way of a statement.

The minister said his ministry will be holding discussions with the Police Service Commission, the Police Civilian Oversight Authority, the Strategic Review Implementation Committee, and the Police Commissioner to develop appropriate performance measure targets.

Bunting said 56 civilians have been killed by the police in the first three months of this year. The minister said the figure is same as the corresponding period last year and significantly less than the corresponding period for 2010.

“It is very important that the police retain the full confidence of the society that they police, which means that they must be ready to account for their actions to society,” Bunting said.

He added: “Every use of lethal force has to be investigated, explained and justified.”

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Sizzla Kalonji denounces Swedish media reports

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

FIERY dancehall artiste Sizzla has denounced recent media reports that he was banned from performing in Sweden because of his aggressive stance against homosexuals.
A statement from the singer’s Kalonji Muzik company yesterday accused international media of releasing ‘misinformation to the public about him’ to ‘malice and defame his character’.
It said contrary to reports, Sizzla did not utter anti-gay lyrics during any of his most recent shows and was not booked to perform in Canada or England as some reports stated.
According to the statement, Sizzla is prepared to abide by laws in any country he is booked to perform.
“It is his nature and character to respect all,” the statement read.
PinkNews, reportedly the largest gay news service in Europe, was among the media that carried the story.
Its story said Sizzla was scheduled to headline a show in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, in late March. Promoters cancelled the show due to pressure from gay rights groups.
PinkNews also disclosed that other Sizzla concerts in Italy, France, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain are scheduled to go on.
His European tour was scheduled to start yesterday in Vienna, Austria. It is expected to close April 19 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Sizzla is one of several dancehall acts who have clashed with gay rights groups in Europe and North America for nearly 20 years.
The British gay rights group, Outrage, forced promoters of shows in Britain to cancel Sizzla concerts in the United Kingdom in 2004. Similar action took place in Toronto, Canada, the following year.
In 2008, Sizzla was denied a visa to perform in several European countries after protests from gay rights organisations.
Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Capleton have also been targeted by gay rights advocates who say their some of their songs encourage violence against persons with alternative lifestyles.

WASHINGTON – The family of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin said Wednesday that a police video showing the shooter, George Zimmerman, arriving at the station for questioning discredits claims he acted in self-defense.

By Jacquelyn Martin, AP
“It just shows that everything that Zimmerman has been saying, that the police have been reporting, is false,” the teen’s father, Tracy Martin, told USA TODAY as he watched the video on television in a Washington hotel Wednesday night.
ABC News said it obtained the police surveillance video, and it was replayed on other networks. Sanford police Sgt. David Morgenstern told the Associated Press that the video is of Zimmerman.
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“From what I saw, Zimmerman had no blood on his face, had no grass on the back of his clothes, no cuts on the back of his head,” Martin said.
Family attorney Benjamin Crump said the video and lack of evidence of a struggle knocks down Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense and shows officials botched their investigation.

Trayvon Martin was talking on his cell phone when he was shot and killed in February.
“You’re witnessing a conspiracy in the first degree,” Crump said. “If they don’t arrest this guy — there’s a conspiracy at this point.”
The police surveillance video taken the night that Trayvon was shot dead, shows Zimmerman, 28, arriving at the Sanford, Fla., police station in a police car, exiting with his hands cuffed behind his back and being led to questioning.
The 17-year-old’s death has sparked a national conversation about racial profiling. He was fatally shot Feb. 26 after Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, followed him because he said the teen looked suspicious.
Trayvon, who is black and wore a hooded sweatshirt, was unarmed; Zimmerman is described by police as white; his family says he is Hispanic.
No charges have been filed against Zimmerman. He had told police that Trayvon jumped him and smashed his head into the pavement. According to an initial police report, an officer noticed Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and back of his head and showed signs of having been in a struggle.
George Zimmerman: Neighborhood watch captain involved in shooting death of Trayvon Martin

Orange County Jail via Miami Herald via AP
Crump said the national outpouring of outrage in the case won’t stop until Zimmerman is arrested.
“I think the people aren’t going anywhere,” he said referring to the growing online petitions, gatherings and social media campaigns.
Among the displays of support Wednesday was that from Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who was escorted off the U.S. House floor for wearing a hoodie as he protested the shooting. The lawmaker called for a full investigation into Trayvon’s death.
“Racial profiling has to stop,” Rush said on the House floor. “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.”
The congressman, wearing the hoodie again, said later in a CNN interview that “life is much more than a piece of clothing.”
The House has strict rules about what lawmakers can wear on the floor. Rep. Greg Harper, R-Miss., who was presiding over the chamber when Rush was speaking, banged the gavel repeatedly and reminded him of rules that prohibit the wearing of hats in the chamber while the House is in session.
Harper said wearing a hoodie was “not consistent with this rule.” Rush was escorted out.
The hoodie has become a symbol of support for Trayvon. Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and their teammates wore hooded sweatshirts in pictures as part of the “We Are Trayvon” campaign.
Tens of thousands of people have posted pictures of themselves wearing hoodies on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
Zimmerman’s lawyer and l friends have spoken in defense of the neighborhood watch volunteer, saying he is not a racist. He has dropped from sight since the killing and has not made any public remarks.
Despite the police decision not to charge Zimmerman at the time, several other probes are ongoing. The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation, and a Seminole County, Fla., grand jury is considering possible charges. The grand jury is likely to convene April 10.
More than 30,000 people signed an NAACP petition to Florida prosecutors in just a 24-hour period.
Contributing: The Associated