POLICE Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake has subtly defended his attempt to oust head of the Police Officers’ Association (POA), Senior Superintendent Wayne Cameron, in his latest column in the weekly Force Orders.

While not naming Cameron, Blake, in a column dubbed ‘Leadership, discipline and the transformation of policing’, argued that: “By any measure, discipline remains the defining pillar of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). This is not rhetorical framing. It is a legal and organisational reality enshrined in the very Act that governs the Force.”

According to Blake, the JCF is partially under military organisation and discipline, with its officers expected to lead in that regard.

“This foundational principle is not ceremonial but operational. It is the blueprint upon which public trust, legitimacy, and internal cohesion are built.

“An important reality that must be appreciated is the fact that discipline is not evenly distributed. The expectations increase with rank, and rightly so. The Officer Corps is supposed to be the greatest exemplar of discipline. Officers do not simply manage resources, they are the custodians of institutional culture, they set the tone. When an officer gives a lawful order, the legitimacy of that order is grounded in the expectation that they themselves are disciplined and principled,” said Blake.

He added that leadership by example is not aspirational language, it is an operational necessity.

“This relatively small group [of officers] is responsible for the good order and effective management of the JCF. In any organisation, especially one armed with legal authority and entrusted with safeguarding life and liberty, order and example must be inseparable. Where they diverge, dysfunction creeps in,” declared Blake.

The column underscores that Blake’s insistence on discipline in leadership, particularly in representative bodies, is not punitive but protective.

“The JCF cannot afford leadership structures that reflect confusion, inconsistency, or self-interest. Representation must reflect that which is being represented. If the organisation is built on discipline, then its representation must embody it. Not in part, but in full,” said Blake in a subtle dig, seemingly at Cameron, days after he announced that the chair of the POA be vacated and the current holder would no longer be granted audience with the police high command, nor would he be permitted to represent the JCF outside of official duties.

In a release issued to JCF officers last Monday, Blake said the high command is concerned that reports of alleged indiscipline and misconduct by Cameron may compromise the conduct of the POA, “particularly at a time when the organisation is required to engage in highly technical salary and benefits negotiations with the Government of Jamaica.”

Cameron has since scoffed at the commissioner’s attempt to oust him as he argued that Blake has no such power, and last Wednesday the court issued an ex parte injunction preventing the move.

The court also granted Cameron’s application for a stay of implementation of the decisions by the commissioner until a judicial review scheduled for October 8.

“It is clear that we’ll have to test the legality of the commissioner’s actions because, from what we know, he would have overstepped his bounds,” Cameron told the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday morning as his lawyers headed to court to seek the injunction.

He argued that that the POA chairman is selected from the floor of the association’s conference, at which more than two-thirds of the officers of the JCF are present, and that was done at the last conference in November 2022.

But, in his column in the Force Orders, the commissioner argued that leadership must be as precise, disciplined, and consistent as the system it claims to serve.

“When representation falls short of this standard, it weakens the credibility of the group and by extension, the entire organisation,” said Blake as he added that his obligation as head of the JCF is not optional or discretionary.

“Discipline and good conduct as a requirement to lead any representative body within the JCF is absolutely non-negotiable. Those who place self above service, or politics above professionalism, will inevitably face the full weight of accountability,” added Blake.

In recent days, there have been allegations that Cameron openly campaigned in the lead-up to the September 3 General Election, but the veteran cop denied this during his interview with the Observer.

“That is absolute rubbish,” declared Cameron.

“I am a man of principle, and I respect my office and my organisation too much. I was never involved in any election campaign. I would expect people to put that type of foolishness out there but it is not true, in fact, that is just laughable, absurd,” added Cameron.

He told the Observer that he believes he still has the support of the majority of more than 300 members of the POA.

CAMERON…I am a man of principle, and I respect my office and my organisation too much