PRESIDENT of the United District Constables Association Damion Pryce is calling for changes to the Constables (District) Act, 1899, amid mounting pressure from his subordinates for better representation.

Pryce’s call follows comments from district constables islandwide who have told the Jamaica Observer that they are being treated unfairly within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

In an interview with the Observer last Thursday, the president stated that the greatest hindrance to district constables earning liveable wages is the 19th-century Act.

“The Act needs to be amended. The Act is antiquated and we are looking at it to see how best the relevant authorities can do amendments where necessary to make the lives of district constables better,” said Pryce.

Among the changes he is calling for is the inclusion of a clause which identifies district constables as members of the JCF.

According to the Act, a district constable is a rural police whose function is to work with residents and report anomalies to the JCF.

They are to be called upon by the JCF for operational duties or to carry out constabulary work only if there is an emergency and with the permission of the governor general.

By law, they are allowed to have second jobs as the district constable role is part-time.

Pryce also wants the Act to facilitate a platform for the promotion of district constables without them having to resign and apply for entry to the JCF.

He is also calling for amendments to Section 2 subsection II of the Act which gives the commissioner of police the authority to fire a district constable at his discretion.

“It should change so that a district constable is not just dismissed by a commissioner but goes through a process just like within the JCF. In the force, no one person can just dismiss you. It has to go through a process,” he pointed out.

“At one section of the Act it speaks about district constables must be given a waiver on mules. So if they have a mule they don’t pay tax. I’m saying that needs to be amended to something of today’s world, whether a bike or a car or a truck,” Pryce added, noting that the clause is ridiculous.

Under section 18 of the Act, district constables are exempted from paying taxes on horses or bicycles which should be used to perform public duties.

District constables who spoke to the Observer two Fridays ago mentioned that they receive little to no benefits. They said they are not offered housing, travelling, maintenance, and in some instances health benefits as is normal for members of the JCF.

“For you to be a district constable you have to be a landowner; we’ve passed those days. We need that to change. It means then a lot of us don’t qualify to be district constables. Since I took office [in January] I said let’s leave the word Act out of this thing because if the Government should look at the Act none of us can be district constables. We don’t have what it takes to be district constables,” he stated.

“So that’s where we need to start to get things in order and to have district constables earning liveable wages. We want it to ensure that district constables live a favourable life; district constable children can go to school; district constable can buy a house. I want district constables’ pay to reach a level where NHT (National Housing Trust) considers us applicable to buy a house rather than having to join with someone else. District constable pay should be at a level where you can apply for your own house,” he added.

Pryce also stated that he is aiming to have the salaries of district constables equal if not close to rank and file members of the JCF.

He argued that his members do the same work and sometimes more than some rank and file police and should be compensated for it.

With negotiations around the corner, he said the issue will be at the top of the agenda.

He said he had embarked on an islandwide tour to note the concerns of his colleagues, but it was impacted by restrictions brought on by the novel coronavirus outbreak. However, with the Government relaxing some measures he will be pressing ahead.

District constables across the island have scolded Pryce and the association for not advocating greater benefits for them.

In a WhatsApp group with almost 200 district constables, members threatened to withhold dues paid to the association if things continue along the same lines.

They also said that they will withhold their votes in the upcoming general election or vote for the Opposition if the Government, too, fails to address their concerns.

They have also indicated that they are prepared to go on strike.

Approximately 3,000 district constables are operating across the island.

Two Fridays ago, the Observer reported that district constables were crying foul over the “poor” treatment they said is being meted out to them by the JCF.

They said they were being asked to work long hours without compensation as well as to perform duties, some “dangerous” and outside of their job description.

They mentioned, too, that the United District Constables Association, tasked with representing and defending their interests, has failed to champion their cause, forcing them to launch a petition on their behalf.

In response, Pryce said that he has been working hard to address the issues.

Outdated provisions in the Act

“A district constable shall be exempt from the payment of any tax or duty upon one horse or one bicycle, so long as he continues to be a district constable.”

“If any person shall have in his possession any badge, or baton, or other article furnished for the use of a district constable, and shall not satisfactorily account for his possession thereof, or if any person shall falsely answer the name of, or act as, or personate a district constable, he shall be liable on conviction before a Resident Magistrate, in addition to any other punishment to which he shall have subjected himself, to a penalty not exceeding $20 or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceeding six months.”

“Any district constable desiring to resign his office in the Rural Police, shall give one month’s notice of his intention to do so, to the chief officer of Constabulary Force of the parish in which his district is situated, and on the resignation or removal of any district constable, he shall within 10 days deliver over to such chief officer of constabulary any badge, or baton, which he may hold in virtue of his office, otherwise he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $2 to be recovered summarily before the Resident Magistrate of the parish.”