It does not take a great stretch of the imagination or intellect to figure out that the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be extremely concerned about Commissioner Hardley Lewin's order that the policy governing the employment of off-duty policemen be reviewed immediately.

As reported in The Gleaner on Thursday, the order comes against the background of several policemen being on the National Solid Waste Management Authority's payroll. As it stands, the Constabulary Force Act prohibits police personnel from engaging in public employment without the approval of the governor general through the national security minister.

Reference was also made to an interview earlier this year with general secretary of the Jamaica Police Federation, Corporal Hartley Stewart, who said, "We want a policy to ensure that nobody goes beyond certain bounds." He pointed to existing regulations, which suggest that police personnel can hold a job or own a business with the approval of the Police Service Commission, but said this was not enough.

And, considering the several wage disputes between the Government and the police over the years, and especially the mass sickout of late 2006, quite a few members of the police force are sure to feel that their salaries are not enough and extra work is not only desirable, but necessary.

Of course, it is highly doubtful that all employment of police personnel outside their designated duties is easily determined or even recorded. It is questionable, for example, if police personnel in plain clothes who provide security for many entertainment events, and even offer personal security services, do so with the knowledge, much less approval, of their superiors in the JCF.

At this time when the leadership of the JCF seems to be making a renewed and very public effort to stamp out corruption and 'hustling' in their ranks, this matter of making extra money legally is not a minor one. After all, some of those who have been caught taking bribes and, to put it baldly, extorting money from members of the public, may point out that they were pushed to their unacceptable behaviour by a combination of low wages and a rising cost of living. Of course, such circumstances cannot be accepted as justification for this breach of public trust and the existing code of conduct.

However, implementing a policy regarding extra work, whether in a private or public enterprise, without recognition of the economic situation, is at best futile. It seems that it comes down to the question of what level of salary will provide police personnel, who are automatically faced with great temptation on the job, a sufficiently high standard of living for him or her to avoid that temptation.

Or, if they do not, then stand automatically convicted of greed, whether they are caught or not.

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