The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was officially established in the mid to late 19th century in response to the Morant Bay Rebellion. It was mainly there to serve and protect the upper white class from potential threats to their well-being.

The JCF has transformed over centuries, but it still has much to improve on. The modern-day JCF is meant to “Serve, Protect and Reassure”, but many would say that it is a far cry from that.

Unfortunately, many Jamaicans do not trust the police due to the high level of systematic corruption within the force, to include working in collaboration with criminal organisations, taking bribes, unlawfully fining people, knowing information and willingly ignoring it, and more. The corruption and inefficiency have contributed to an out-of-control crime rate and jeopardised the welfare of the Jamaican people.

In order to deal with the crime demon that has overtaken this country in the last 45 years we will need a ‘clean’ force that is resilient and robust.

Crime in Jamaica is arguably the most detrimental problem the country has grappled with in decades.

According to the JCF, in the year 2017 we had 1,647 murders, exceeded only by that of 2009, which was 1,683. In fact, as a nation we have had in excess of 1,ooo murders from 2001 to 2020, with the exception of the year 2003.

In contrast, New York City (NYC) had homicides of between 468 and 649 during the same time period. This is troubling as NYC has a population of roughly 8.6 million people compared to Jamaica’s three million.

Other crimes in Jamaica such as aggravated assault, domestic abuse, robbery, and scamming have also wreaked havoc on the citizens of the country.

Jamaica has, for many years, been considered one of the murder capitals of the world and is showing no signs of relinquishing that title any time soon. All the blame cannot be placed at the feet of the JCF, though, as government administrations, past and present, must take reponsibility as well.

The JCF, however, being at the forefront of the fight against crime will, indeed, bear the brunt of the pubic’s displeasure and, therefore, will have to be overhauled so that it can begin to produce long-overdue results, revamp it’s image, and regain the trust of the people.

Currently, the JCF does not have the best image. According to the pollster Bill Johnson, in 2019, the public perceived that, on average, 55 per cent of police officers were corrupt. It stands to reason, therefore, that, if the public believes that over half of the JCF is dishonest, they will not give much-needed information to aid in solving crimes, nor will they consent to become witnessess in court. Something will have to be done to change how the public perceives the force if it is to have any sustainable success.

The police force is also, unfortunately, understaffed, underfunded and, frankly, demotivated due to lack of incentives and benefits.

In order to keep the majority of officers in line and reduce corruption, there will need to be a tightening of the checks and balances in the system by way of body cameras on each officer, trackers in every car/bike, log in/out times, and specific access protocols to weapons and other equipment. Practices and protocols such as these will make it much harder for police to defect from their true duties.

Another situation which contributes to corruption in the force is that the police are drastically underpaid. These brave men and women, who put their lives on the line on a daily basis, should receive more benefits and a pay increase in order for the staff attrition rate to decrease and the level of motivation to increase. It is completely abhorrent to me that the commissioner, reportedly, receives over $18 million per annum for his salary and an entry-level rank-and-file police constable is said to be paid less than $1.5 million a year. This leaves a potential weak spot for bribes.

The additional administartive duties are also overwhelming, much of it should be digitised and secured by block chain technology and the physical paperwork should be there for back-up.

Another issue is the general lack of officers. There are roughly 14,000 police officers in Jamaica. On average, that is 214 people to one officer. My proposal is to increase the number of officers to 20,000 in order to alleviate the burden on the current members of the force. Some might disagree with this proposal but, according to the United Nations, our neighbours, such as Barbados, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas all have more police per 100,000 civilians. Unfortunately, a country with so much crime will need more people that are tasked with upholding the law; therefore, more training camps and bases would have to be built to train more police and for longer periods, while weeding out questionable candidates.

Much of the police, both new recruits and seasoned officers, would have to be trained/retrained to become well-rounded officers who are ready to respond quickly to issues, utilise de-escalation skills, act appropriately in high stress situations, constantly train in simulations, uphold the rule of law for everyone, and serve and protect civilians.

Corrupt individuals would have to be removed through a system that is geared towards screening out dishonest members and replacing them with young, dedicated people. This can be achieved through proper testing, anti-corruption training, and a probation period before full employment.

In addition, the operations of the organisation would have to undergo significant adjustments to make it painstakingly difficult for members of force to partake in illegal activities, much less get away with the act.

I believe the JCF can “Serve, Protect and Reassure”, once these recommendations are integrated into the reformation of the organisation to make it a healthy, integrity-driven, accountable, and trustworthy institution. This restructuring could revolutionise crime fighting and prevention as we know it in the nation and even in the wider region.

Malik Smith is currently pursuing a double major in economics and banking and finance. Send Comments to the Jamaica Observer or maliksmith774@gmail.com