WE ENDORSE Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie's assertion that the proposed relocation of the Office of the Police Commissioner to downtown Kingston is a good idea.Over the past two and a half decades, there has been a steady flight of businesses and other public sector agencies to New Kingston and elsewhere in the Corporate Area to the detriment of the economic and social viability of downtown Kingston. Among the main concerns cited by business people for their decision to relocate, are the high crime rates and the attendant protection extortion rackets.
The relocation of the administrative offices of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will not, by itself, reverse the exodus. It would, however, be a significant boost to the confidence of those who may be contemplating moving out, that they should stay. Additionally, improvements to the social infrastructure should help to stymie the social decay that has set in and what better group to start with than the police.
Many governments have recognised the wisdom of turning the downtown areas into prime centres of commercial and cultural activities. Kingston need not be any different, although there is the added reality of many densely-populated inner-city communities nearby. This proximity can, in fact, be an advantage. To the extent that people are able to obtain work with firms or agencies close to where they live or they can offer services to persons who come into the area to work, is the extent to which they have a vested interest in seeing that the businesses remain vibrant, functioning entities.
Also, given the current high crime rates within the downtown area and calls for improved community policing, the presence of the senior administrative officers of the JCF should help to assure decent, law-abiding residents that they are not seen as a pariah. This of course assumes that by moving its offices to the planned Duke Street site, the police will not themselves develop a siege-like mentality or aloofness from the people among whom they will work. Of course, there are, at present, important offices of the JCF already in the area such as the Criminal Investigative Bureau (CIB), but the message that would be sent by siting the police's headquarters downtown is that 'we want to be here'.
This project should also be used as a springboard to repair the police stations in the Corporate Area and across Jamaica that have become rundown and lacking in basic amenities. Nobody can be expected to perform at optimum levels when he or she has to be dealing with the plagues of vermin and pests, and poor plumbing or none at all.
The Kingston Restoration Company and the Urban Development Corporation, among others, have been struggling valiantly for years to reconvert dilapidated buildings into attractive and useful business centres. The JCF's move should be an added fillip to their efforts.
