RETIRED Senior Superintendent of Police Ionie Ramsey Nelson is less than impressed by the decision of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to ditch gender-specific references in its ranks.

According to the JCF, the move is as symbolic as it is progressive, and is a critical step in its ongoing transformation.

“The abolishment of titles like ‘woman constable’ in favour of simply ‘constable’ is more than a terminological update; it is an acknowledgement of the uniform service and sacrifice of JCF members. This policy not only honours the contributions of women in the force but also underlines an environment of inclusivity where the focus is firmly on the professional not the personal,” said the JCF in announcing the change.

But Ramsey Nelson, who served the JCF for more than 40 years and was the first female motorcycle cop, told the
Jamaica Observer that the change is nothing to celebrate.

“I really don’t see the big thing in it because, guess what, it is only from the rank of constable to inspector that we now add the woman. From assistant superintendent going up, it is just the rank. I have never heard someone say woman superintendent. So what’s the big thing?” said Ramsey Nelson.

RAMSEY NELSON… I really don’t see the big thing in it (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

“If you are a woman, and you know you are a woman you don’t have anything to worry about. Most of my assignments, especially when I was in traffic and management positions, I operated as a woman.

“There was this big thing when I went to traffic, they had this photograph on the mirror and it said, ‘The success of your future depends on the man you see in this mirror’, but that never fazed me at all. I was born female, I always acted as a woman and it never bothered me at all.”

According to Ramsey Nelson, more important than removing the designation of woman, the JCF needs to ensure that its male and female members are treated equally.

She noted that during her time in the JCF she was part of efforts to ensure that men and women holding similar ranks were paid equally and she hope that is continuing now, having retired from the force in 2009.

“To be quite honest, those of us who know how things run generally, know that the women are the backbone of this nation…and we take on some of the hardest parts of the job. We work and let the men look good. I’m not saying that the men of the JCF are not working and that they are not doing exceptionally well, but my experience in the JCF was that I had to make like four steps while the man might only make one and he was good,” charged Ramsey Nelson.

She argued that there was a time when women in the JCF were passed up for promotions while less qualified men were promoted.

“I stayed in one rank, I can remember, when the policy at that time was that you had to pass your exams to be promoted, and at one stage I was the only person in the Traffic Division who had passed the examination and I waited eight long years to be promoted. I think it was from corporal to sergeant.

“And I remember some promotions were handed down and my supervisor then was a sergeant…and he was disappointed. He said to me, ‘Ramsey, I was really looking for you to come through but no worry yuself, your time will come. Just shine up you shoes, make sure the seam in yuh shirtsleeve is sharp and come to work tomorrow morning and work hard as you have been doing’, and that is what I did,” Ramsey Nelson told the
Observer.

She said for her, the most important thing for the JCF is to treat its female members equally in what is the 75th year since women were allowed to join the force.

“And, as I always say to the women in the force, don’t allow anything to frustrate you. You have the Police Federation, you have the Police Officers’ Association and you can also go to your superiors to share your grouse but make sure that you work hard so that when push come to shove people can’t say you are not deserving of what you are entitled to,” added Ramsey Nelson.