Government Senator, Don Wehby, is calling for an amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act to allow for Unexplained Wealth Orders as part of efforts to improve the legislative framework for bolstering the response to crime.
“Cutting off the financial means of these criminals is crucial to tackling the financial aspect of crime. Mr. President, from what I understand, these criminals’ operations are very structured, and they use technology to facilitate their operations locally and overseas, fueling violence and the trade of guns and drugs,” he said.
According to the US Department of Justice, the primary objective of an unexplained wealth order is to deprive criminals of the acquisitions or benefits of unlawful activities.
Making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate recently, Senator Wehby further called for amendments to the Telecommunications Act to improve law enforcement’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.
“This would include telecommunications providers expediting requests from law enforcement to provide customer and call data information and requiring them to retain the data for longer periods. I know this might not be a popular question, but… do we need more expertise in Jamaica to fight crime?” the Senator said.
“This is an international warfare with criminal gangs all over the world. Do we need to ask for more help from our longstanding partners – the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Canada or anywhere else?” he added.
Senator Wehby said the long overdue Police Services Act is another piece of legislation aimed at transforming the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) into a modern, effective and efficient police service.
“My understanding is this legislation will lay the foundation for the reform of the JCF towards community policing to stabilise communities gripped by crime, building social cohesion, and in doing so, form crime-prevention partnerships,” he argued.
“The Police Services Act has been dropped from the legislative agenda and I would like to see the Bill re-tabled in Parliament as soon as possible. Whatever is holding us back from implementing this Act to support the transformation of the JCF, we have to find a way to overcome that challenge – resources, technical expertise, financing – whatever it is, we must overcome the challenge,” he said.
Senator Wehby commended the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) for the initiative called Project STAR. The social and economic transformation project aims at facilitating a whole-of-society, collaborative, evidence-based approach to sustained violence prevention for communities across Jamaica.
“We know the Government alone cannot solve the social issues we face as a country; the private sector must get involved,” he emphasised.
