KINGSTON, Jamaica — Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been instructed that a six-month notice is now required before resignations.

The announcement, which came by way of the JCF’s weekly Force Orders, noted that failure to comply with this new policy may be seen as an offence and the officer will become liable to conviction.

Offending officers will face a fine of no more than $250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

According to the Force Orders, the reason for implementing the new policy is that automatically accepting resignations, especially at short notice, is proving detrimental to good administration.

The JCF argued that automatically accepting resignations result in the following:

• Disruption to the functioning of formations from the sudden loss of Specialists who are not easily replaced.

• Dismissal of cases for want of prosecution where members who are critical witnesses separate without making adequate provision for the continuation of cases.

• Inability for the organisation to implement retention strategies owing to the absence of data that should have been captured at an exit interview.