Gareth Manning and Mark Beckford, Sunday Gleaner ReportersSOME GROUPS within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) say they would support recommendations to have cops with a history of indiscipline or poor performance retired early.
While this is not a recommendation in the recently unveiled JCF Strategic Review led by president of Northern Caribbean University, Dr Herbert Thompson, the police say there is room for this measure to be implemented.
The early retirement of underperforming officers was previously recommended in the 2002 report of the National Committee on Crime and Violence, chaired by then Minister of National Security K.D. Knight. The proposal was aimed at promoting confidence in the leadership of the JCF and to allow room for the advancement of younger cops.
Suggests change in culture
While not recommending the early retirement of police officers, the recent JCF Strategic Review suggests a change in culture at the top level of the force to reflect intolerance to corruption. The review team anticipates this attitude would filter down to the lower ranks, forcing them to modify their behaviour or 'self-select' themselves out of the JCF.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Felice, who is in charge of the anti-corruption unit, welcomes a policy of retiring police officers in the interest of the force. He has further called on the Government to pass legislation which would allow the commissioner of police to dismiss members of the force in whom he has lost confidence.
"If there is information about the integrity of officers, and officers who are not performing at the required level, if these persons don't have the commissioner's confidence, then there should be a method where the commissioner can dismiss or remove them from the workforce," Felice tells The Sunday Gleaner.
Superintendent Michael James, chairman of the Police Officers Association, was also in favour of early retirement. He, however, believes the process should be such that both parties are treated fairly.
"We believe in due process; when this is in place we know that there will be the time to sever connections with some officers, as long as there is the assurance of fair play and equity," he says.
"I understand that when there is transformation, you will have to ask persons who are not in line or in sync with the organisation's mandate and view to leave," James adds.
Focus on policing themselves
Corporal Hartley Stewart, general secretary of the Jamaica Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file members of the JCF, says the JCF "should focus on what we are already doing, which has been highlighted by this commissioner and the previous one - police ourselves in a more robust way, where the atmosphere is uncomfortable for officers for whom corruption is an aim or manner of operation".
Referring to the Police Service Regulation of 1961, Stewart argues that the Police Service Commission (PSC) already has powers to ask police officers to retire in the public's interest. Stewart says if a matter cannot be dealt with properly by the JCF's internal Court of Enquiry, the PSC can follow a certain procedure and ask the individual to retire.
Minister of National Security, Trevor MacMillan, says while there is room for poor performers and undisciplined cops to be retired early, he "can't say that it is being considered at this point in time. Not from an official perspective."
Key recommendations in the Strategic Review of the JCF Initiate a comprehensive review of the JCF discipline system to bring it in line with modern practices, combined with immediate effort to eliminate the backlog of discipline cases.
Establish a more robust senior decision-making framework and structure, with current arrangements reorganised into a senior executive committee (comprising the commissioner and deputy commissioners).
Establish a performance contract between the PSC and the commissioner of police, setting out objectives and targets against which the commissioner's performance will be evaluated.
