Dwight Nelson, the recently installed national security minister, is yet to define what he means by a reserve civilian police, whose establishment he plans to explore.

But the critics, we sense, are ready to unsheathe their daggers to slay the idea. We urge restraint.

For even in the absence of clarity on the part of Mr Nelson, we discern more than a germ of a good idea, perhaps not far removed from one put forward last year by Dr Peter Phillips, who served as national security minister in the previous administration.

Dr Phillips' proposal was for a corps of what he called community safety officers, which, essentially, would be an auxiliary body of volunteers, which would help the police maintain law and order in communities.

Such a group, on the face of it, makes sense, given Jamaica's high levels of crime and the inadequacy of the numbers of cops to deal with the problem. In his broadcast on Sunday night, Mr Nelson repeated a complaint of his last four predecessors - that with a constabulary of under 9,000 members, Jamaica, at 274:1, has the lowest ratio of police personnel to citizens in the Caribbean.

Partisan political

The suggestion of a volunteer auxiliary group that mirrors the constabulary will, quite understandably, raise concerns, not least among those with long and partisan political memories. For in the idea are echoes of the Home Guard of the 1970s, which, whatever its intent, became mired in the divisively ideological Cold-War politics of the period. So, the unfortunately named Home Guard was perceived not as a legitimate support group for the police but as storm troopers for the enforcement of the democratic socialist agenda of Michael Manley's People's National Party (PNP) administration of the time.

Mr Nelson's suggestion, hopefully, can avoid such politicisation. For as we noted last year when Dr Phillips placed his community safety officers idea on the table, his party was, as it remains, in Opposition. He, therefore, suggested its implementation by the current administration.

Unfortunately, the PNP's president, Portia Simpson Miller, signalled neither endorsement nor opposition to the idea. Dr Phillips, having lost a challenge to Simpson Miller, is now out of the central leadership of the party.

Civilian constabulary

Another likely cause of unease over Mr Nelson remarks was his characterisation of the intended group as a reserve force, suggesting that it is to remain in the wings, to be called out only in emergencies. That may strike people as a bit like the military rather than the requirements of a civilian constabulary. Moreover, police officers may construe this as parallel rather than a complementary unit and interpret emergencies to mean periods of disputes between the Government and police force. We, however, suspect that Mr nelson spoke loosely.

In any event, there are many models for a support group to the front-line police, such as the Police Community Support Officers employed in Britain, who engage in high visibility patrolling and deal with minor offences and gather intelligence. They have limited powers of arrest.

Minister Nelson, though, might start by inviting people in communities to volunteer for tasks such as answering phones at police stations, making journal entries and writing reports. That would free more regular cops for the front lines in the fight against crime.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.