INDECOM takes over probe into Rasta’s alleged trimming

Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson says the police have turned over the investigation into the alleged forced trimming of a Rastafarian teen to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).

In August, 19-year-old Princess Nzinga Candace King said that she was trimmed by a policewoman on July 22 while she was in lock-up. Anderson said in a press conference yesterday that INDECOM wrote to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) last week requesting that they turn their investigation over to the independent body.

"It (the case) is important on a number of levels. I think the main one is that beyond the actual case itself, it led to a national conversation about the JCF's reaction to different groups, to Rastafarians in particular. You know, a wider conversation about how we tread with diversity and our public," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of INDECOM Hamish Campbell says the investigation is ongoing and will be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) once it is completed.

"As the investigation carries on, the gathering of statements, the interviewing of people, the compilation of the report [will be done]. We don't give a running commentary on the daily progress and we said that when the report is completed it will be submitted forward to the legal department and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions."

Anderson says the JCF is waiting with some anticipation for the result of the investigation.