THE Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was on Wednesday presented with 3,500 non-lethal weapon kits, a gift from the United States Government that will enable the local police to ease their reliance on the use of firearms.

The handover, which took place at a ceremony at the National Police College of Jamaica in Twickenham Park, St Catherine, represented the second batch of 7,000 kits that have been presented to the JCF.

“Three years ago Commissioner (of Police Carl) Williams approached my embassy. He relayed how his front-line officers were pleading for additional tools; sometimes they had to pin suspects to the ground for lack of handcuffs,” United States Ambassador to Jamaica Luis Moreno recounted in his remarks at a handover ceremony.

Ambassador Moreno stated that the partnership provided two things: equipment in the form of backpacks with collapsible batons, pepper sprays and handcuffs, and training for officers to use the resources as tools of modern policing.

The United States ambassador congratulated Commissioner Williams and his team for the professionalism shown in improving their skills and abilities to control situations with minimum use of force. He said that, if only one life is saved, it would have been well worth the investment.

“The donation of 3,500 less lethal weapons kits represents the second batch of the total of 7,000 kits from the United States to the JCF, with the first having been delivered in November of 2014. Since we received the first kits approximately two years ago, the US Embassy has provided tremendous support through the training of 26 JCF officers as less lethal trainers by instructors from the Pasadena Police Department,” Commissioner Williams remarked.

He added that the JCF instructors have trained more than 3,500 members, most of whom are front-line officers, on how to use of the devices. An additional 19 officers were trained as defensive tactics instructors in a four-day course in Louisianna, USA, in June of 2016.

Williams stated that by the time all 7,000 kits are deployed, the majority of the cops will be trained to use them and they will become a standard part of the police kits within the JCF.

In his remarks, Minister of National Security Robert Montague stated that the ministry has the safety and security of Jamaican citizens as its number one priority.

“The high levels of violence and crime require our police personnel to be appropriately equipped with less lethal weapons and be trained to properly use them. Criminals must know that the security forces are fully equipped and are more than able to confront them and disrupt their operations. We will not yield ground to them no matter how well resourced they be,” Montague stated.

A team of officers, led by instructor Corporal Donovan Dixon, performed live demonstrations on the use of the devices. The weapons are mounted on a utility belt, which is also effective to holster a firearm, but this is not the first option to be readily used.

Dixon added that the JCF has always used less weapons and methods, but the donations from the US have boosted their efforts.

“The option available is normally the option with the less impact first, because what we try to do is always use less force as best as possible in any attack; it doesn’t really matter. We exhaust that means first in neutralising any situation, as it is a matter of neutralising situation [and] using less lethal forces,” Dixon told the

Jamaica Observer following the ceremony.