MONTEGO BAY, St James – Peter Salkey, one of the two Constabulary Communication Network liaison officers for St James, was finally promoted to Corporal earlier this month, fulfilling a dream he has cherished for more than a decade.

A policeman for 11 years, Salkey, with his calm demeanour and professionalism, has long commanded the respect of his peers but never promotion to higher office.

That, however, changed on January 12 when he was finally promoted by Commissioner Lucius Thomas. He was among the more than 60 police officers from Area One, who were promoted by the police chief.

After three weeks as Corporal, Salkey, 33, is still on a high from his promotion.

“In simple terms, it feels good. It feels really good that I have reached this rank and I am promising that even though I was working real hard, I will be working even harder because to whom much is given much is required. And, I am hoping that my hard work will pay off even more as I go along,” he told the Observer.

Salkey, a husband and father of a little boy, acknowledges that there is not much more money that goes with the promotion, but said it was the responsibilities, which he valued.

“It (the money) can buy something else. But it (the promotion) comes with more responsibility. You are now seen as a supervisor. One of the main thing is for you to see that you will assist the men and women, who are junior to you in regard to the rank, to be professional, decent, and courteous,” he said. “And also, we are given the task, to as much as possible, assist those men and women to make sure they don’t go the corruption route.”

Salkey, meanwhile, is hoping that higher education and his hard work over the next few years will propel him into even higher office.

“One of my main intention in the JCF is to retire and I really would want to, by the age of 45/48, be in the gazetted rank – not less than a superintendent,” he said, adding that he was preparing to resume his studies in September.

“I’ll be looking at HR Management. I think that will be good for the organisation,” he noted.

But things have not always been smooth sailing for the young policeman. Up to June 2004, he was facing a charge of unlawful wounding, and an uncertain future with the JCF. On August 6, 2001, his gun fell and went off, hitting a man who was sitting in a car nearby.

Salkey, who was off duty at the time of the incident, was charged in January 2004 following a ruling from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He was, however, freed of the charge on July 1 when the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court found that he had nothing for which to answer. A departmental inquiry followed and he was cleared by the then commissioner, Francis Forbes, and resumed his police duties on September 6 that year (2004).

Now, with that legal matter out of the way and the new promotion a happy reality, Salkey, who is also a Christian, is resolved to being the best cop that he can be.

He is a member of the St James Community Relations Department and serves as the assistant co-ordinator of the Safe School programme in the parish.

He also lectures at schools across the parish and is involved in mediation and community policing initiatives.