LUCIUS Thomas took up his promotion to police commissioner on January 19, and less than two months later became the first police chief to have a foreign cop on his team. Mark Shields entered the Jamaica Constabulary Force at a time when the public was demanding a more professional type of policeman, insisting that the expertise could only come from overseas.

THOMAS... it is remarkable that the rank-and-file and the officers have warmed to DCP Shields so much

But there was resistance to the plan from within the constabulary, which Thomas has acknowledged in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, saying however that Shields, whose posting here began March 1, has managed to win them over.

"To me it is remarkable that the rank-and-file and the officers, despite those who were making noises about foreign officers coming in, have warmed to DCP Shields so much and he has made himself available to all of us," said commissioner Thomas, who succeeded Francis Forbes this year.

As Forbes himself tells it, 20 minutes after taking up the job, he requested overseas assistance for the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Thomas, who was promoted from crime chief to head the JCF after Forbes resigned, says he too was for bringing in professional assistance from abroad, dismissing suggestions that Shields, whose office is separate from the high command at Hope Road, was being kept out of the loop on some operational issues.

Shields, a 28-year-veteran of the London Metropolitan Police, was seconded to the Jamaica Constabulary as the deputy commissioner in charge of crime.

When DCP Shields joined the police high command here, he was not brand new to Jamaica, nor to local police investigations.
He had been the lead officer in the Crawle investigations to determine how two men and two women came to have been shot dead at a house in the rural Clarendon district during an alleged shoot-out with the police on May 7, 2003.

SHIELDS... the first foreign cop to take up posting under Thomas

That experience has given him a "head-start" of sorts over the other four overseas police officers who are also to join the high command of the JCF, and has helped to speed his adjustment on taking up the job as the crime chief.

Six policemen, including the high-profile Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams who headed the now-disbanded Crime Management Unit, have been charged with murder arising from that incident, and are to face trial in a few weeks in the Home Circuit Court on King Street, downtown Kingston.

Shields remains the key investigator in that case.
According to commissioner Thomas, Shields, as the DCP entrusted with the crime portfolio, is in charge of crime overall for the island. He has responsibility for the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), which is the pulse of the organisation and its limited corps of detectives.

The force has recognised that it has a difficulty with "cleared-up" cases and the new DCP's job includes reorganising the CIB to ensure that it has a professional work force.
Shields is also in the process of formulating a detailed crime plan for the force, with performance targets.

He is in charge of the Forensic Laboratory on which the provision of scientific evidence for use in criminal cases depends greatly in the effort to bring down "the horrendous crime rate," Thomas told the Sunday Observer.

Shields is also in charge of the Narcotics Division and is in on every major criminal investigation or operation the police force undertakes to bring criminals to book.

His counterpart, DCP Charles Scarlett, is in charge of the other specialised units.
But, while Scarlett has his office at 101-103 Hope Road, seat of the police commissioner, Shields' office is at 6 Oxford Road in New Kingston, giving rise to the speculations.

Thomas, however, dismissed the suggestion of his being sidelined in relation to some important decisions or operations as nonsense.
"Absolutely not," said Thomas in response to queries whether there was any veracity to the talk.

"Every Monday morning the commissioner has a meeting in his office with his deputies which lasts from 9 o'clock to about 1:00 pm. We discuss policy and strategic situations then we move to downstairs where we link up with a specialised group of persons, such as certain area officers, the intelligence officers and others who are responsible for driving the policies of this organisation," said the police chief.

"This would last until say 2:00 pm, and that is where there is the wrap and the details and the deployments are discussed and the arguments take place and, to me, it has been a very good ride so far. In addition, the Commissioner and DCP Shields get in touch when they need to speak with each other."

As for suggestions of overlap with Scarlett, and how the two work together, Thomas said the situation was not unique to crime.
"He works with everybody because here all the portfolios overlap. There is no portfolio that can stand by itself. Crime impacts on administration, admin impacts on operations and intelligence, and so on down the road," said the commissioner.

"The question is asked, why is Shields at Oxford Road and we are here The answer comes back to resources - lack of the facilities that we need so badly," said Thomas, acknowledging however that the separation presented a constraint on the job.

"We don't have enough space here. But I recognise that we might have to shift some office somewhere, somehow. For let me tell you, I have a difficulty with an officer having to drive all the way from Oxford Road to here, when I would want to just step across his office and say a quiet word to him, instead of him spending time in traffic trying to reach here. But it's the case of facilities not being available."

Shields' situation is not unique, however. At least two former deputy commissioners in charge of crime had their offices on lower Duke Street, downtown Kingston.

There are plans to move the high command to more expansive facilities. Thomas says his understanding is that he and his officers would be relocated to the former Jamintel building (owned by Cable & Wireless, Jamaica) at the corner of Duke and North streets.

williamsl@jamaicaobserver.com

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