THE Ministry of National Security says plans are in place to acquire a vehicle-tracking system in the new financial year to cramp the style of police officers who use service vehicles for personal business on work time.

“With respect to vehicles and their location, we are certainly working on that, it is budgeted for. We hope, in the next financial year to acquire a proper vehicle tracking system that will give us a real-time demonstration of deployment,” Dr Annmarie Barnes, permanent secretary in the ministry, told Wednesday’s meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

The committee has been combing through the findings of the 2012 performance review by Auditor General Pamela Monroe-Ellis into the management of police vehicles.

Dr Barnes was responding to committee members, who wanted to know whether an internal monitoring or tracking system had been implemented as part of the overall fleet management policy for the police.

She, however, shied away from disclosing whether the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) had up to now been successful in its attempt to prevent police officers from driving home patrol vehicles or using them for their own pleasure. She was also reluctant to comment, in detail, when asked whether the tracking system was “part of the design that would help to ensure that vehicles are not parked at persons’ homes”.

“Indeed, member,” Dr Barnes said cryptically in answering a query from Government committee member Fitz Jackson, who is the member of Parliament for South St Catherine.

In the hard-hitting report, the Auditor General said the JCF’s fleet management policy was “not comprehensive” and did not address areas such as the garaging of vehicles; vehicle allocation; personal uses; basis and procedure for scrapping vehicles; control over new and used parts; and management reports.

The Auditor General said her staff had “found that the JCF did not monitor the usage of its fleet”.

“The log books designed for this purpose were not faithfully maintained, for example in some instances the JCF did not record in the book critical information such as, driver’s signature, status of equipment and details of the assignment and the name of the authorising officer,” the report said.

Furthermore it said the JCF “is uncertain of the size of its motor vehicle fleet”.

Tuesday, Dr Barnes told the committee that the police currently has some 1,554 vehicles. Of that number approximately 180 are awaiting repairs, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police Leon Rose, who heads the JCF’s Services Branch. Another 40 need to be removed from the fleet, the ministry also said.

Fifty-four per cent of the vehicles in the JCF fleet are over six years old.