Corrupt cops in Jersey

A few quotes from the Times, below, click on link for full article. Try as I might, I can't remember seeing a JEP article about the earlier investigation on police corruption mentioned below. Is this my errant memory?

 

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3511934.ece

 

Before announcing progress in the inquiry yesterday, Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper said he had been facing sustained obstruction from retired officers trying to cover up their own failure to investigate complaints of abuse at Haut de la Garenne, the former children's home.

 

Asked whether there had been pressure to limit the scope of his investigation, Harper, who is from Northern Ireland and has served in Jersey for almost six years, said: "There has been stacks of it. Mainly from ex-cops, corrupt cops who have got friends in among senior politicians on the island. I would not insult the island by saying there is a culture of corruption; there is a cache of corrupt ex-coppers.

 

Harper said the campaign against him had intensified since the discovery of part of a child's skull at Haut de la Garenne brought the inquiry to widespread attention last month.

"There were calls made and anonymous e-mails sent to national newspapers in the past week warning them not to trust the chief officer and myself, and that definitely came from the sister of one of the corrupt cops."

He added: "There is no doubt allegations were made by children in the past and they were simply not dealt with the way they should have been – that includes the police, the social services and everyone else. British police have been invited to Jersey to support this work."

Harper, 56, said the attempts to block his investigation arose from an earlier attack he had mounted on police corruption. He was responsible for sacking a "hard core" of officers who had allegedly demanded sexual favours from members of the public and taken holidays paid for by Jersey businessmen.

He said the former officers – including one high-ranking policeman – threatened him when it became clear his child abuse inquiry would expose their failure to investigate. "I received about 140 abusive letters with threats to burn my house and my car," said Harper. "This happened about a year ago."