The Right Reverend E. Don Taylor yesterday made an earnest plea to Jamaicans not to ignore the courageous and selfless deeds of the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) as they worked to maintain peace and safety throughout the country often at the expense of their own lives.

Speaking during the Annual Commemorative and Memorial Service of the JCF held at the Parish Church of Kingston, downtown Kingston, Taylor said, in some respects, the nation has developed a culture of ingratitude and irreverence for human life.

"Where has our pride gone, where is our sense of dignity of human life gone?" he asked, just moments after the church observed a minute of silence and laid red roses for the six officers killed in the line duty over the last year.

Some 40 other members of the JCF have also died while off duty, from December 2008 to November this year.

Taylor said it was a shame that so many lives have been lost, many cut down by common citizens of the nation. He pleaded with Jamaicans not to allow the officers to die in vain as he said many of them lost their lives while seeking to enforce the laws of the country.

Though he didn't deny that there were a number of individuals within the force who gave the group a bad name he said there were men and women who risked their lives daily for the integrity of Jamaica.

"I am here to tell you this morning that this nation owes you a debt of gratitude," he told the officers gathered. "It owes you more than that - it owes you the very fabric of its life," he added.

Horrendous

Taylor continued: "I call upon the people of this nation to redouble its efforts to let the men and women in uniform know that this country, by the grace of God, stand with you because of the good you do."

Meanwhile, Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie, during his address, said the death of any member of the police force was horrendous.

"Six is six too many," he said.

The mayor said he believed it was full time that crime against members of the nation's police force be seen as nothing less than an act of terrorism.

Officers who died in the line of duty

December 2008 - November 2009

Corporal Georgette Colleymore

Constable Delroy Brown

Constable Rodney Thompson

Constable Marlon Samms

Special Constable Richard Hamilton

District Constable Neville Afflick