PCOA introduces divisional inspection scorecards
DIVISIONAL inspection scorecards have been introduced on the Police Civilian Oversight Authority’s (PCOA) website.
This feature, initially referred to as the PCOA Web Reporting Format, can be accessed at www.pcoa.gov.jm.
The scorecards are intended to provide the public with an abbreviated report on the quality of services within Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) divisions; and use tangible measurements as a uniform template to rate the police across the divisions.
Senior director of inspection and monitoring at PCOA, Andrew Beaumont outlined the importance of the scorecard being made available online and how it fits into the PCOA ecosystem, during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.
“Each year we do one divisional inspection and share with the public. We have found out, over time, that the public is always excited to know about the services of the police. We used to go out in the communities and do presentations on the scorecard but we realised we’re not reaching a wider audience… so we have now put this scorecard online,” he said.
Beaumont said further that the scorecard will be divided into two sections.
“The first section is general policing. So it talks about how the divisions or the stations are maintaining their records… are the divisions doing their inspections as they should? In the second part it talks about the strategic priority of the [police] commissioner,” he indicated.
The senior director noted that each year the commissioner will put out a strategic priority on how crime will be reduced in particular divisions or nationally. Based on the JCF’s priorities, PCOA conducts its assessments.
“When we go in and look, we test to see if the targets that they have set for themselves are being accomplished. For example, they will say to reduce breakings in a particular year they will increase patrols by 10 per cent; we look to see if that is happening. And so, this is presented in a scorecard format on our website,” he pointed out.
“We are asking you to go by our website and have a look, and see what your division is doing so you can have a more fulsome idea of the services you receive from the JCF,” Beaumont said.
PCOA is mandated to provide monitoring, inspecting, and auditing of the JCF’s implementation of standards and procedures.
