Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Thompson

IT'S DIFFICULT keeping tabs on Dr Herbert Thompson. Between board meetings and media interviews, the stalwart educator has little time, it seems, to scratch his head.

Thompson, the long-serving president of Northern Caribbean University in Manchester, is also a motivational speaker and an independent member of the Electoral Advisory Committee.

In early 2007, he was given arguably his toughest assignment to date, when he was named by then national security minister Dr Peter Phillips to chair an eight-member panel to review operations at the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

After nine months, the team of four Jamaicans and four foreigners submitted an 86-page document containing 124 recommendations to Prime Minister Bruce Golding. The panel estimated it would cost Government more than J$5 billion to implement the recommendations over three years.

Thompson, 58, said the meetings were not mere talk shops.

Tough decisions

"We felt strongly that there are things that need to be fixed in the police force, and for that to be done tough decisions have to be made," Thompson told The Gleaner.

Many of the panel's recommendations are 'tough'. These include mandatory polygraph tests for members, including senior officers; a revised procedure for promotions; a change of name to the Jamaica Police Service; and merging the Police Service Commission with the Police (Civilian Oversight) Authority.

Thompson believes if the latter gets the green light, it would be significant.

"As it is now, the PSC is not effective. For example, many cases (involving the police) are not reported, and a merger would result in an effective secretariat that could cover several areas," Thompson said.

Thompson said he readily accepted Phillips' request to be part of the strategic review because he wanted to help improve the image of an organisation tarnished by reports of widescale corruption and cronyism.

His team agreed that police morale must be high to fight crime. For this to happen, they stressed improvement in working conditions and salary. The promotion process, he stressed, should also be scrutinised.

"People must be promoted on the basis of objective criteria, it shouldn't be left up to someone who likes somebody," Thompson stated. The report has got the thumbs up from Dr Carolyn Gomes, a director of human rights group Jamaicans For Justice, which has long called for major changes in the police force.

On Tuesday, shortly after meeting with National Security Minister Trevor MacMillan, Gomes described the panel's report as 'excellent'.

Herbert Thompson is the country boy who made good. He is the last of 11 children born in Newport, Manchester, to a jack-of-all-trades father and his first wife, both devout Seventh-day Adventists.

True to his SDA roots

Thompson stayed true to his SDA roots by attending and graduating from NCU.

He moved on to La Sierra and Loma Linda universities in California, then the University of the West Indies, where he earned a PhD in biochemistry.

Thompson is also a recognised author who has written motiva-tional books, including Rural Gumption.

Golding said recently in Parliament that not all the pro-posals by the strategic review panel have been accepted by his Cabinet. Thompson, however, hopes most of them will be implemented.