MAKING the transition from police to politician has been easy for Steve McGregor and, having spent 41 years as a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), he is planning a similarly lengthy stint on the political stage, though the 61-year-old does not expect to stay in politics as long.

The former senior superintendent of police (SSP) is expected to be the People’s National Party’s (PNP) candidate in Kingston Central in the next general election, and he is aiming for more than a one-off victory.

“The connection that I have made with the people there…I am intent in going there to serve my people,” McGregor told the Jamaica Observer as he targets the constituency now held by the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) Donovan Williams.

“As I told you, I am going there to make it into a dynasty, so it is telling you that I am not looking at losing. I know I am going to win, and I’m going to stay there.

“In the community that I grew up, in Franklin Town, I want to make some more little Steves. I want to show them that you can grow up in a community, out of humble upbringing, and become somebody like Steve McGregor; because I grew up in humble, humble, humble settings in Franklin Town,” declared the 2000 LASCO Top Cop.

McGregor, a father of four, was born in the Maroon settlement of Moore Town in Portland, before his family moved to the Corporate Area when he was six years old.

“I lived in McIntyre Villa, that’s what it is now called; we used to call it Dunkirk then. I moved to Cambridge Street, in the same Franklin Town area. I attended the Franklin Town Primary [School], from there to Kingston College in the same constituency…So, I really have a real, real connect with the constituency that I am now running for,” said McGregor.

He told the Sunday Observer that, while his father lives in Canada, and his mother, his siblings and three of his four children live in the United States, he has never considered migrating because he is committed to helping to build Jamaica.

“I actually go abroad quite often, but I don’t like it; I look forward to come home. I feel safer at home,” said McGregor.

“To take tales out of school, just after winning the police officer of the year [award] in 2000, I got an offer in a Caribbean country for a big post, and when I consulted with my parents and…I was doing so well in the JCF…the whole patriotic side stepped in. So I’ve never thought of migrating from Jamaica,” declared McGregor.

He noted that after leaving the JCF he was convinced that, as a relatively young man, he had more to offer the country and that pushed him towards politics and, ultimately, the PNP.

According to McGregor, during his formative years, he would listen to then PNP president, Prime Minister Michael Manley, with the real political influence coming from the late Marjorie Taylor, who was the councillor for the area.

He said that was his early introduction to politics and it helped to influence his decision when he moved onto the political stage.

“I grew up under the People’s National Party in Franklin Town, so that is a party that I knew…so it is a no-brainer that I would go with the PNP,” said McGregor.

“I am coming as a change agent…I want to impact leadership in my country, and I know I bring a lot to the table…The PNP is the vehicle that I am on and that is where I will go from here.

“If you look at the candidates that we have now…if you do a proper analysis of it — the managers, the people, the accredited people that we have…the fact is that a lot of us have not yet gotten a chance in office, but we know that what we bring to the table will make a difference,” he declared.

The former SSP pointed out that during his time with the JCF, he was tasked with managing some of the most crime-riddled divisions and argued that he left each one more secure and peaceful than when he assumed duties in them.

“Working with the people is something that I kind of inculcated in my policing efforts. My first stint of policing as a manager was in Patrick City [in the St Andrew South Police Division]. That was the first station that I commanded…and the kind of work that we did with the citizens in Patrick City…we developed a people-centric approach to everything that we did — where the people know what we are doing. We work with them and they work with us, and I saw where it worked.

“So I took that with me when I was transferred to Rockfort [East Kingston Police Division], where I won the first Police Officer of the Year award. When I went to Rockfort, we used to get a murder like every other day…and we went in and developed a real relationship with them,” said McGregor, under whose command the area recorded a dramatic decline in major crimes.

He told the Sunday Observer that he took that approach to policing in other tough divisions, including Kingston Central and Kingston western, where he listened to the people and policed with their support and understanding.

“I coined a phrase that I used while I was in the police force, to say, ‘If in a genuine, honest, and consistent way you influence the attitudes of people, you will change their behaviour.’ So I am coming as a game-changer,” declared McGregor, who will have to turn over a deficit of a little more than 300 votes to defeat Williams.