It is becoming apparent that the St. James Police Division is in dire need of an overhaul.

I am disgusted by the recent reports of policemen who reportedly robbed a civilian, and of a civilian impersonating a police officer at the Mt. Salem Police Station.

Situations like these cannot be allowed to continue and persons need to be brought to justice for these crimes.

I would like to know what the Minister of National Security Colonel Trevor MacMillan, Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, Commander in charge of the ISCF in St James Commander Leonard Mason and Superintendent Maurice Robinson, head of the St James Police division, are planning to do about the division's problems.

Ineffective force

We all wonder why crime is so rampant in Jamaica but what we need to understand is that we have a totally ineffective and inefficient police force.

We will never be rid of crime until honest, educated and competent persons, who really care and are interested in alleviating Jamaica's crime problem, lead and participate in our police force.

How can a man walk into a police station and impersonate a police officer for 182 days. How is this possible?

Do they not have protocols at the Mt. Salem Police Station? Can anyone just walk off the street and say, 'I am a police, give me a uniform and an M16 rifle'?

Only one of two things could have made this possible - either everyone at that police station is completely incompetent or suffers from some form of diminished mental capacity or persons in high places in the police department were involved in this scam.

Cannot continue

With regards to the officers who robbed a customer at the Western Union branch, it is still a mystery, but what I find unbelievable is that a sting operation was set up and two of the officers escaped. Obviously, this operation was not carefully planned - or was it?

I hope that Minister MacMillan and Commissioner Lewin will attempt to do something about our police force, as we cannot continue like this.

Jamaica will never move forward if our crime is not placed under control. We need to get all the unscrupulous persons out of the force immediately.

Corrupt police are worse than the criminals themselves and until we realise this, and do something about them, we will all suffer.

I am, etc.,

Pepper J.

pepperjones03@yahoo.com