KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is denying claims made by Sergeant Tamika Taylor that she has been victimised after blowing the whistle on several high-ranking members of the constabulary.

In a video that circulated on social media on Monday, Taylor made allegations concerning several past and currently serving senior officers as being part of a conspiracy against her dating back to 2011.

She noted that on January 15, 2020, she met with current Police Commissioner Antony Anderson and blew the whistle on several high-ranking members of the JCF. However, she claimed that instead of having the matter properly investigated, she was further victimised.

READ: Policewoman on ganja charge says she’s being victimised after blowing whistle

In a statement on Tuesday, the JCF confirmed that a meeting was held at the commissioner’s office with Commissioner Anderson, Sergeant Tamica Taylor, her lawyer, the director of the Legal Affairs Division of the JCF and the superintendent in charge of personnel from the Administration Branch of the JCF.

However, the JCF High Command said claims that Taylor was further victimised is “patently false”.

“The meeting was requested by the member and convened to address her displeasure with a personal matter of her promotion.  She felt that she had been denied a promotion for unfair reasons and desired an opportunity to ventilate those matters,” the JCF explained.

The constabulary noted that in the meeting, Taylor made allegations of what she viewed as victimisation in the promotion process by past and present senior officers, some of whom were no longer in the force.

“These allegations of victimisation were given by her as background information to support her claim that she was being unfairly denied a promotion.  She gave her personal view of why she thought she had not been promoted which included the fact that she, along with other members, had initiated a judicial review claim against former Police Commissioner Mr Carl Williams on the very issue of promotion, and that she had sent a voice note in which she complained about the actions of a senior officer in the denial of her promotion,” the constabulary stated.

The JCF stressed that the context of the meeting pertained only to Taylor’s personal desire for promotion as opposed to any alleged ‘whistling blowing’ under the Protected Disclosures Act. 

However, the JCF said a review was undertaken of her matter which confirmed that certain concerns were raised during the vetting process for promotion.

Noting that as is customary when dealing with concerns of this nature, the police said Commissioner Anderson referred her matter to the Ethics Committee of the JCF so that the concerns could be ventilated.

According to the JCF, Taylor subsequently attended the Ethics Committee where she was engaged on the issues. After her participation at the Ethics Committee, the JCF said certain intelligence reports arose which have been ultimately born out in the ruling made by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

In the DPP’s ruling on Thursday, January 26, it was recommended that Taylor be charged under the Dangerous Drugs Act.

The JCF said it will not speak publicly on that matter as, “the member will have an opportunity to defend any prospective charges”.

The JCF is assuring the public that there are rigorous vetting requirements involved in the promotional process within the constabulary and that if there are concerns identified, they cannot be ignored but must undergo a process that allows for the ventilation and ultimate resolution of same before promotion can materialise.

The JCF High Command said it stands by the integrity and transparency of the vetting process as well as its commitment to the transformation of the JCF into a modern constabulary that Jamaica can be proud of.