POLICEMEN and women who live in squatter settlements have not found favour with Jamaica Police Federation Chairman Corporal Rohan James and Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson, due to the high level of crime in these areas.

Corporal James, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, said members of the police force and their families can easily become targets, adding that, in order to protect their families they would have to turn a blind eye to criminal activities which would compromise their positions as law enforcers.

“… Simply put, once you are in certain neighbourhoods, your safety and the safety of your family is what lies at the forefront of one’s thinking. Consequently, it cannot be that you are going to be effective in an environment where criminals walk around with high-powered weapons,” said James.

A number of squatter settlements have over the years been a major breeding ground for criminals.

According to James, members of the force living in these less-than-desired communities underscores the need for them to be properly remunerated for the risky and important jobs they signed up for. Proper remuneration, he added, would give them power to find upstanding communities in which to reside.

“The issue of police living in informal settlements lends itself to the officer not being effective enough to carry out his or her core functions because they are being placed in a compromising position. That is why it is incumbent that the State remunerates the police officers that they can live in a proper environment. They need to be able to effectively carry out their tasks without being compromised,” said James.

Corporal James, when asked, said he had no information on police being recruited into gangs because of the informal settlements in which they reside.

Police Commissioner Anderson, in a press conference earlier this week, said it is undesirable for any of his staff to be squatting.

Anderson said some traditional squatter communities have been regularised but stressed that the solution to the problem of squatting can be found in longstanding calls for the State to pay its agents well.

“Police officers should be paid sufficiently that they do not have to find themselves living in a squatter settlement,” Anderson said.

After a relentless campaign by Jamaica Police Federation, the Supreme Court recently ruled that by March 31, 2023, the Government must implement a proper software system to ensure proper and accurate calculations are made to capture and calculate well overdue payments for overtime since 2008.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke subsequently indicated that Government is committed to comply with the orders of the court and said the Administration, through the Ministry of National Security, has started the process of procuring the system for capturing accurately the hours worked by the police.