PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has given instructions for the completion within four weeks of a modern police headquarters to house the commissioner of police and his principal officers in a central location.
Mr. Patterson was speaking on the first of a three-day Cabinet retreat at the Couples Sans Souci Hotel in St. Mary.
Sources close to the Cabinet retreat confirmed that the new location of the police headquarters will be the former Jamintel building located at the corner of Duke and North streets in downtown Kingston. The Gleaner first reported on this proposed relocation of the police commissioner's office last year.
The new headquarters will house a command and control centre equipped with modern technologies to coordinate operations across the island.
National security was the first item on yesterday's agenda, during which National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips and Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas made presentations on crime. Informed sources told The Gleaner that the presentation centred mainly on security concerns for this year, especially those relating to the containment of homicides. Close to 1,700 persons were murdered last year.
Dr. Phillips advised that the Ministry of National Security would accelerate the modernisation process within the security sector to achieve a highly professional security force, equipped with modern crime-fighting technologies and operating within the context of a supportive legislative framework.
Cabinet will presently give approval for the establishment of the National Strategic Intelligence Agency in keeping with a decision of the Cabinet and a recommendation of the National Security Strategy arm to form a civilian intelligence agency. Meanwhile, the newly-created police civilian oversight authority will soon be in operation and is expected to contribute to the rebuilding of public confidence in the police force.
The Cabinet approved the direction of the Ministry of National Security to revamp the approach to training and professional development for recruits and officers at all levels in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. To this end, the ministry has been collaborating with certain local and overseas institutions at the tertiary level to revamp the entry requirements and the training curriculum for police officers and to extend the nine-month training period in a move designed to improve the professional preparation of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Cabinet directed that steps be taken to implement the necessary upgrade of the training facilities at the Jamaica Police Academy at Twickenham Park.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington also made a presentation relating to security issues for the Cricket World Cup 2007. He outlined plans to Cabinet as to how the force would allocate resources for this event.
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