Since May of this year, we've been showing you how police have been prosecuting gang members under the new anti-gang laws. The much used offence is called "being a member of a criminal gang."
This year alone, 21 gangsters have been charged for "Being a member of a gang. 9 of them have pleaded guilty, while 8 other accused men have decided to fight their case.
Now, 9 convictions is pretty good, but, for those who've admitted that they are gangsters, the court has sentenced each of them to pay fines.
So, we wondered how effective this new strategy is, given that these individuals can simply pay off these fines, and then carry on with business as usual in whatever gang group they are affiliated with?
When we met the Police Commissioner at another event today, we asked him about it:
Reporter
"Isn't it inevitable that these persons could become repeat offenders after they pay these fines? Wasn't the intention to discourage gang membership?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I don't want to go too much into the affairs of the courts. The courts are a separate entity than the police and there must be that separation of powers between the police which forms part of the executive and the courts which forms part of the judiciary. While yes we have our task to arrest and take persons before the court, it is the court's function to look at the circumstances and decide what punishment they are going to give to persons who have been accused of committing a crime. While, yes, I can say I am not happy about certain things, I cannot be upset with the court for what it is that they are doing. If it is that they become repeat offenders and they go back before the court, that on a second occasion the court is not going to have that same view and just give them a fine and that the court is going to impose a lengthy custodial sentence."
Reporter
"When these legislations were drafted, the anti-gang legislation was drafted; was there contemplation for custodial sentence for guilty verdicts for this particular crime?"
Chester Williams
"Of course, the legislation does not speak to a fine; it speaks to custodial sentence. But as a lawyer, I will tell you that the magistrate does have the discretion because of a decision in one of the courts in the CCJ which says that the state cannot impose a mandatory minimum sentence and so it does give the magistrate the leverage where they can use their discretion in imposing a sentence on persons who have been found guilty of committing a crime."
So far the breakdown of gangsters charged are 5 from Back a Land Crip, 2 from PIV bloods, 3 from Rocky Rd. Bloods, 7 from George Street Bloods and 4 from south side Crips.
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