Jamaica’s Director of Public Prosecution, Paula Llewellyn, has ruled that no criminal action should be taken against a policewoman accused of cutting the hair of Rastafarian teenager Nzinga King. The ruling also stated that no criminal action should be taken in the case of the arresting officer against who King, a 19-year-old nursing student, made an allegation of assault.
This ruling comes after months of investigations into an alleged incident on June 29 last year, where King had an altercation with cops trying to arrest a man seated alongside her in a taxi in the May Pen taxi park. The allegations are that the matter resulted in King’s detention and subsequent unauthorized trimming of her locks while in custody.
Public Outcry for Rasta teen
In the weeks that followed the alleged occurrence, there was a public outcry from notable members of the entertainment, legal and political sectors. Most spoke to how an act like this infringes upon fundamental human rights. Attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan, who the family retained, said the act would be the equivalent of ‘walking into Buckingham Palace and dragging a princess from out of Buckingham Palace and scalping her.’
Selector Foota Hype criticized Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Culture Minister Olivia Grange for their silence on the matter. At the same time, global reggae star Chronixx chimed in, saying the “Constabulary will have to pay” for the human rights violations that were supposedly exacted on the teenager.
Other voices who chimed in on the matter included former Vice-President of the People’s National Party (PNP), Damion Crawford. He only noted that he would visit the Four Paths Police Station in Clarendon, where the alleged incident took place, to get the other side of the story.
No Mischief Found
King and her mother, Shirley McIntosh, took to social media to air their disappointment and call for the relevant authorities to investigate the matter. In response, Senior Superintendent Glenford Miller, commanding officer of the Clarendon police, noted that if King’s claims were found to be untrue, then he would consult with the JCF’s high command to see where charges of creating public mischief might be proffered against her.
However, the ruling given by the DPP on Wednesday, February 9, stated that “No recommendation is made in respect of a possible investigation regarding Ms. King for the offense of Creating Public Mischief.”
Final Decision
The ruling was one of several recommendations handed over to the Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM). “The ODPP’s recommendations in Paragraphs 1 and 2 do not preclude Ms. King from pursuing civil remedies in relation to her complaint. The civil standard of proof is on a balance of probabilities which is lower than the criminal standard, this being proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the ruling said.
The DPP says she concurs with INDECOM that there should be a departmental inquiry into any possibly observed administrative breaches about any failure by the police to make the relevant records that they were obliged to do at the material time that Ms. King was detained at Four Paths Police Station.
“We also concur with INDECOM that Ms. Nzinga King should be afforded professional counseling. We strongly recommend this course be pursued by her family and any competent authority,” she ruled.
