Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
TORONTO, Canada:
WITH MORE than 450 members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) promoted over the past month, Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas is now in the process of effecting major transfers to continue the fight against Jamaica's growing crime problem.
"Some of these transfers are aimed at improving the supervision and management structure of the police force," the commissioner told The Gleaner, while on a business trip in Toronto.
Newly-promoted Deputy Superintendent Donovan Graham, who was assigned to Special Branch duties, is now the commissioner's staff officer. There are also reports that a number of the newly-promoted officers will be filling the slots of several senior officers, from assistant commissioner down, who are scheduled to go on pre-retirement leave within a few months.
CLEANING OUT THE FORCE
Commissioner Thomas, who spent the weekend in Toronto, told a meeting of the Jamaican diaspora in Canada on Friday night that since becoming commissioner of police on January 19 last year, he has also removed more than 60 personnel from the police force.
"Some of these cases are still before the courts," Commissioner Thomas said.
With the implementation of the anti-corruption policy in the JCF, the commissioner said the drive is now on to rid the police force of more corrupt cops, so they can win back the confidence of the Jamaican people.
SLUGGISH JUSTICE SYSTEM
Mr. Thomas described 2005 as a challenging year for the police. He further stressed that the contributing factors to crime in the country were not being helped by the 'sluggish' justice system.
"We need effective laws to make it difficult for persons involved or associated in any way with criminal activities, to benefit from ill-gotten gains," the Commissioner said.
He said the police have asked for a simple amendment to the Gunpowder and Explosives Act to empower them to arrest persons found with elevated levels of gunpowder on their bodies and clothing and put them before the courts for handling explosives without a licence.
