Integrity Commission faces staffing crisis as West Kingston MP pepper-sprayed in police clash

The Integrity Commission on Tuesday held its first media briefing in years after tabling its annual report in Parliament, addressing slow investigations, staffing shortages and criticism of the body. Commissioners said routine probes should finish in about six to 12 months, ideally near nine, while complex files will take longer. The investigations division is operating at only 55 per cent of approved strength. Executive director Craig Beresford said pay lag versus the wider public service is driving exits and has written the finance ministry seeking a revised package, without a reply so far. Officials denied any bid to damage the reputations of public officers and said a protocol on promptly laying charges is being developed. Annual briefings after reports reach Parliament are planned.

In West Kingston, MP Desmond McKenzie said police pepper-sprayed him three times as he tried to calm a tense crowd in Tivoli Gardens after residents reported that officers would not take a shooting victim to hospital. He denied obstructing the force and called the spraying deliberate. Police said an early-morning operation along Bustamante Highway targeted two brothers wanted for the murder of Andame Smith, also known as Delp Perio. Officers reported a shoot-out with a 24-year-old suspect known as Top-Notch, who was wounded and hospitalised under guard; a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol was found nearby. About 200 residents gathered; the police say McKenzie was affected by spray used while they sought to arrest a woman accused of assaulting an officer.

Separately, the judiciary said more than a dozen people were held and nearly $100 million in fines taken during last week’s traffic-ticket amnesty at the National Arena, with 10 arrests on July 8 and six on July 9 — figures still being finalised.

The National Road Safety Council urged the same national push against road deaths as against major crime after fatalities rose in June and July. Police reported 72,079 speeding tickets from January to June — more than double the same stretch of 2025 — and over 7,600 breathalyser tests.

In other news, Fortinet Jamaica reported 5.4 million cyber-attack attempts in the first quarter of 2026, amid greater use of artificial intelligence by attackers. The House passed the Mediation Bill with two amendments after debate over “ordinarily” versus “habitually” resident, including up to a $1 million fine or six months’ jail for unlicensed mediation services. Four years after the 2022 Coco Piece, Clarendon, killings of Kamisha Wright and her four children, residents say the community is still healing; Rashane Barnett is serving multiple life terms. Sections of the Rio Minho have run very low in the drought, with residents collecting water and some earning from riverside washing. Overseas, US President Donald Trump dropped a threatened 20 per cent fee on Strait of Hormuz cargo as American forces again struck Iranian targets and tightened a ports blockade. In sport, Spain beat France 2-0 to reach the FIFA World Cup final.