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Fund launched to support children of slain cops
Named in honour of former CCN head
BY KARYL WALKER Crime/Court Desk co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A fund to support children of police officers who are killed in the line of duty was officially launched by owner of the Medallion Hall Hotel, Glen Bromfield, last Thursday.
Bromfield made the announcement at a farewell luncheon for recently retired head of the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), Superintendent Ionie Ramsay-Nelson, at the hotel. The fund was named in her honour.
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| Outgoing head of the Constabulary Communication Network Superintendent Ionie Ramsay-Nelson is greeted by veteran reggae entertainer Charlie Chaplin at a farewell luncheon in her honour at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St Andrew on Thursday. Ramsay-Nelson spent 42 years in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. (Photo: Joseph Wellington) |
Ramsay-Nelson retired from the force on Thursday, on her 60th birthday. She spent 42 years enrolled in the constabulary and made history as the first female to work as a traffic cop.
"It was named in her honour because of the work she has done as a caring cop in this country," Bromfield told the Observer, adding that he will make an annual donation of $50,000 to the Ionie Ramsay-Nelson fund.
Gunmen have shot dead six cops since the beginning of this year. Thirteen officers were slain in 2008. A total of 109 cops were murdered over the years 2000 to 2007: 12 in 2000; 15 in 2001; 16 in 2002; 13 in 2003; 11 in 2004; 13 in 2005, 10 in 2006 and 19 in 2007.
At present, the dependents of cops who are listed as 'killed in the line of duty' qualify for a $6-million insurance payment that is provided under their terms of employment.
However, grieving wives and children often have to wait for long periods before they can collect the insurance payment as paperwork has to pass through government agencies before payment can be approved.
"These children are often left to perish at the hands of society and I consider it my duty, as of others, to share our blessings," Bromfield said Thursday.
When a cop is killed, the Community Safety and Security Branch interviews their dependents before sending a report, which also includes birth, death, and marriage certificates to the permanent secretary in the security ministry.
On receipt of the report, the permanent secretary would approve payment for a funeral grant, then forward the report to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.
That ministry will then check the supporting documents and forward a file to the Attorney General's Department for a ruling.
If the Attorney General's Department is satisfied, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service forwards the file to the Accountant General's Department for payment of the insurance money.
In cases that are settled smoothly, widows or widowers collect 50 per cent or $3 million.
The other half of the payment is submitted to the Administrator General's Department to be shared among the minors and the mother of the dead cop if she was his dependent.
There is also a special provision that allows some dependents to collect a slain cop's salary for a year.
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