WE HAVE held the view for some time that the Jamaica Constabulary Force is doing a poor job at allocating available resources to ensure efficient and effective delivery of service. We are, therefore pleased that, taking a page out of the private sector's management book, Dr. Peter Phillips, the Minister of National Security, has announced that a Professional Standards Branch is to be formed within the force later this year. It is to be headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant, a rising star in the constabulary hierarchy.
This may be an idea of Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas and Mark Shields, recently recruited from Scotland Yard as Deputy Commissioner, and could reflect a management model found to work well in United Kingdom. The overall thrust of the Professional Standards Branch will be to monitor police performance across the board and to this end will have three main sub-units: an auditing unit, a monitoring unit, and an anti-corruption unit which will replace the largely ineffective Internal Affairs Division.
The new branch will also ensure that resources in the police force are used effectively to achieve overall goals of the law enforcement agency. This must be applauded and supported. This is something which is urgently needed as the security forces continue the fight against the growing problem of crime and violence in the society.
Another important important aspect of the proposed restructuring is that the new branch will absorb the legal affairs unit, corporate planning and research. Obviously this will be a major shake-up in how the police force is run and, by its very scope, will be a major test of Assistant Commissioner Grant's management ability and skills. We think she is the right person for the job and commend her appointment.
A monitoring role of a different sort is taking place in Montego Bay under the auspices of the St. James Peace Management Initiative (PMI) headed by the Most Reverend Charles Dufour, Roman Catholic Bishop of Montego Bay.
St. James and Montego Bay in particular are now hotbeds of crime and violence and the move by the PMI to encourage community associations and groups, under its banner, to help in fighting the criminals, is an important development. In the words of Bishop Dufour, "our aim is the prevention of crime through intelligent community action, to help citizens take charge and manage the peace". Inevitably there will be points at which the work of the police and the work of the PMI will intersect.
We are sure that such interaction will be greatly facilitated by the establishment of the Professional Standards Branch. All Jamaica should support the initiatives both within the force and the wider community to become more efficient and to win the fight against crime and violence.
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