Two of Jamaica’s former top crime-fighters believe that the Jamaica Constabulary Force could be making more progress in the fight against crime if there was greater community engagement at the street level between the police and members of violence-prone communities.

Isaiah Laing and Altemorth “Paro” Campbell both agree that the force could be seeing greater results if rank and file police officers had better interaction with borderline youth.

They also agree that there needs to be a greater level of commitment by police officers to the job.

“Many police officers these days see the service as just a job. We were never like that. We were blessed to have good leaders and we aspired to be like them. We didn’t think about danger, although we never wore vests and helmets — we just didn’t have them. We didn’t think about death because we were all committed to the cause of solving crimes. Perhaps people would say we were fools but we knew the job and what needed to be done,” said Campbell.

Laing said that he has been making the argument for more community intervention but his words have fallen on stony ground. “I’ve been saying for the last 10 years that the guys who are on the borderline need reasoning and not just hardcore policing. You have to get into the communities and reason with the youths. The system has tried to do away with area leaders, but I think they are good to have around. Not all area leaders are dons and when you are able to work with them you are better able to manage the direction in which at-risk youths go. The area leader is a very important person in a community.

“The regular community policing will not work. The street police have to go into the community and build rapport. There is too much mistrust of the police and the onus is on the police to correct that issue,” Laing added.

Serving at the top of their game in the 1980s and 90s, the officers did not have the benefit of technology as today’s cadre of crime-fighters, but they said they still had good results. “We were able to make numerous arrests through good investigation and many were high-profile cases. The forensic lab was not as well equipped like now, but we relied on evidence of eyewitnesses and we forged great links with the communities. We would finish work and go back into the same communities we police during the day to have a drink. We saw the people as our brothers and sisters and despite the fact that some had anti-social behaviour, we were always there with them. When I was the inspector in charge of crime at Hunt’s Bay we would have community meetings five times per week. These were hardcore ghetto communities and the criminal elements were vicious. I don’t think the police now have it as wicked as we used to. Back in the politics days of the 80s it was communities fighting communities and we had to be the buffer. When you are in the middle of Rema and Jungle, Seventh Street borderline, you have gunshots coming at you from all angles. The JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) and the PNP (People’s National Party) were fighting and it was not just one street,” Campbell said.

The police have been having a high level of success recovering illegal guns in recent times.

Laing, who recovered 145 guns whilst serving, said it is commendable but more needs to be done to prevent guns from getting on the island. “It is good that they are finding the guns but I heard the national security minister say that there are more than 200 guns coming into the country on a monthly basis, so I don’t know what they are going to do. I have been making suggestions but nobody is listening. We have so many illegal guns in the country. It has become a very big business. I see where the prime minister is trying by giving monetary incentives for the recovery of guns. What is going to happen is that people are going to bring in the guns and trade them in for cash. I think the incentive is too big. But in order for the policy to work, they must bring the new legislations in place so that there can be greater sentences for illegal possession. That can be the only deterrent to having so many illegal guns out there.”

Campbell said it will take people power to bring the murder rate down in Jamaica. “The police can only delay murder but it is not a preventable offence. The authorities have put things in place like Crime Stop and 311 but the people aren’t using them enough.”

He said that bureaucracy in the court system is stifling the criminal justice process. “We need speedy trials because when you have witnesses coming to court six or seven times, they get frustrated and abort the process. That is how many murderers walk free,” said Campbell who served almost 41 years on the force and retired at the rank of deputy superintendent.

“That is almost a lifetime but I have no regrets. If I had to do it all over again and I could see most of those who I served with in the past lining up, I would join the line. But things have changed and there are more opportunities now in the system than in the past. I would encourage the officers who are now considering 25 and 30 years’ service to find something additional, but legitimate, to do because the salary is not going to carry them and their families. The police need better treatment because if they are not looked after they will leave. They will take the training and leave to go and serve in other jurisdictions. The force has a high attrition rate and if we want to retain good cops the authorities must do better than they are doing now,” he said.

Laing agreed: “The solution to having a better police force is about having good and committed people enlisting. We loved the job and we wanted to protect people but the police are not being treated well. In order for there to be retention and commitment the police have to get a better deal. The police need to be better paid.”

Laing said there are many factors why the police are finding it difficult to bring crime under control. “We have to look at how it all started. When I was growing up in Spanish Town we had 27 factories. These days we don’t have one so there are many youths who have nothing to do and the gang becomes very appealing. We have to find a way to fix that problem otherwise we will not get on top of this murder situation.”

Laing, who served 20 years and left as a detective sergeant in 1996, believes the police force should call on the services of experienced former cops like himself to help in the fight against crime. “Some years ago when they brought the set of policemen over from England, they turned to us for advice. There is a set of us here who know the system. We think like the criminals so we know what they will and won’t do.

“I’ve found more guns being outside of the force than when I was in there. That is because people trust me. Many of us who are no longer serving would like to contribute, but the framework must be put in place and for that to happen there has to be will on the part of the policymakers and so far they are not listening,” said Laing.