KINGSTON, Jamaica — Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Clifford Blake yesterday said that with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) personnel already 3,000 short, there is a need to reduce the over 500 per year rate of attrition.

“We have to seek to retain our officers, because there are some of our brightest and best trained officers, including technical people,” DCP Blake told a private/public sector partnership forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, titled “Our Nation’s Security” and hosted by the Guardsman Group.He said that the force was unable to move forward, because of its high attrition rate versus its recruitment policy.He noted that at a recent meeting of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, officers recruited by other regional countries from Jamaica were being touted for their high performance and being among those country’s best police.“We are losing in excess of 500 police officers each year, more than we can train and most times the excuse they use is that they can get far better salaries abroad,” Blake said.He added that the lack of competent personnel was most obvious in the area of technology, including cybercrime and forensic investigations, which, he said were challenges that the JCF continually faces.Balford Henry