Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Derrick Smith (left), Minister of National Security, in discussion with Winston Barrett, president of the Lions Club of Kingston, at a luncheon put on by the club on Wednesday, November 7. Mr Smith was the guest speaker at the function held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Spanish Town, St. Catherine:

While the new commissioner of police will be given additional powers to deal with indiscipline within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), he or she will also have to chart the changes towards a new approach in policing methods, says Derrick Smith, the Minister of National Security.

need new methods

According to Mr. Smith, for 40 years the police have been using the hard crime-fighting methods which have not had the kind of results they should have. He said it was time for a new approach.

"I think the police need to improve their public skills when interfacing with persons from all levels of society and it has to start sooner than later and ... the gun cannot be the first resort," the minister said. He was speaking on Wednesday at a luncheon hosted by the Lions Club of Kingston at The Jamaica Pegasus.

He said that the many atrocities committed by the police and which often leave communities crying for justice, along with the high level of corruption within the JCF, were among the reasons why the new commissioner will be given more powers to take direct action against those giving the force a bad name.

body to investigate members

To aid in the process, the minister said within the next couple of months, a new body will commence work to independently investigate members of the force who commit themselves or act outside of the law, especially in cases where the gun is involved.

Two recent cases, one in Yallahs, St. Thomas, where a woman was shot and killed by the police and another in Grants Pen, St. Andrew, where a 19-year-old man was also killed by the police, will be before the Director of Public Prosecutions by November 15, Smith said. At the same time, 400 other cases that will require intervention as it relates to the results of ballistic tests, according to the minister, are of concern as they are yet to be fully probed by the authorities.