Dear Editor,

Every day across our island brave men and women of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) step out onto the front lines with one mission: “to serve, protect, and reassure the people of Jamaica”.

Yet they do so in one of the most challenging environments to police. Jamaica is not an easy place to wear the uniform. The level of indiscipline in our society is staggering, and officers are constantly under threat, not just from criminals wielding high-powered weapons, but even from the very roads they police, where vehicles have been deliberately used to mow down traffic officers in full uniform.

As the son of a police officer, I have lived with the quiet torment that many law enforcement families endure. There is an unshakable anxiety that settles in the heart not knowing if your loved one will return at the end of their shift. Every call could be the last. Every knock on the door could be the worst news imaginable and yet, they go. They go because duty calls.

This letter is not written to elevate the life of a police officer above that of the average Jamaican. Every life is sacred and every life matters! But we must acknowledge that police officers are often the first to respond to danger at night, in the morning, in the moments when most would retreat. While we sleep, they work at a time when, as noted Jamaican singer/songwriter Ernie Smith puts it, only two types of people roam the streets: “a duppy or a gunman”. Thank God, in my 26 years as an assistant chaplain, I’ve never seen or heard of a ‘duppy’ causing harm to a fellow officer.

Our officers operate in the heat of battle, when decisions must be made in seconds. They must defend themselves and the public while staying within the confines of the law. A balance that is difficult even in the calmest societies, let alone in ours, in which hostility towards law enforcement exists and indiscipline has become normalised in many quarters.

As a law enforcement chaplain I have had the heart-rending responsibility of notifying families when an officer has been killed in the line of duty. I have stood at gravesides, comforting wives, mothers, and children shattered by the violence that took someone who was only trying to defend themselves and their fellow citizens.

To the members of the JCF: Go into battle with courage. Know that there are many who are praying for your safety, who appreciate your sacrifice, and who still believe that good must triumph over evil.

So I say to you emphatically, my JCF brothers and sisters: After you’ve braved the streets, faced the bullets, dodged weaponised vehicles, stared down danger, and stood firm in the darkness, come home safe. Jamaica and your families need you alive!

Reverend Dr Courtney Faulknor

Assistant chaplain and founding chairman of Talk About It Limited

courtfaulk1@yahoo.com