By Damion Mitchell and Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReportersTHE JAMAICA Constabulary Force (JCF) is now servicing a $98 million telephone bill, which the Police High Command believes is partly due to the abuse of telephone services by officers within the respective police divisions.
"This (bill) is something that we consider to be excessive," Jevene Bent, Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of administration and support services, told The Gleaner, yesterday.
A telephone bill which amounted to $66,000 for calls made within a 24-hour period at a small rural police station is now being probed by the Police High Command. So too calls running close to a million dollars from another station over a four-month period.
"The police personnel at these stations will have to give an account," DCP Bent said.
She declined to name the stations in question, fearing she might give away too much before the investigations are completed. She said disciplinary actions against liable officers and the disconnection of some telephone lines were corrective options being considered by the High Command.
The DCP disclosed that the multi million-dollar telephone bill represents an accumulation, which was incurred during the last financial year and brought over to the current fiscal year.
"It is quite a number of months accumulating over some period, but I think our members have been abusing the telephone system," she admitted.
ACCOUNTABLE
"Our members have to be held accountable as we cannot afford the abuse of our resources," she continued.
The deputy commissioner said current JCF telephone guidelines require police officers to record each telephone call and its reason. This, she said was being disregarded.
She noted that two months ago, her department wrote to the commanding officers in the respective police divisions requesting that they ensure better monitoring of telephone systems. "Already, we have seen some reductions in the bills," (but) the amounts were "nowhere near satisfaction."
DCP Bent revealed that the JCF's telecommunications division was in the process of assessing the telephone systems at all police stations, to determine whether extensions with dialling restrictions would be a better alternative compared to individual straight lines. However, she said restriction systems come with a cost.
Identified "telephone abusers" have been allotted a specific period in which to service their expenses, but the deputy commissioner said the pace of payment has been slow.
