Erica Virtue, Staff ReporterThe police have been challenged to extend their community policing programme to improve their relationship with citizens and rebuild mutual trust and respect where those have been lost.
The recommendation, one of several contained in the more than 100-page report submitted to the National Security Ministry and the Police Force last week, said the concept of community policing cannot be successful if the police are fearful of their own citizenry.
The United States-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) which made the recommendation, conducted studies in the island late last year, in response to a nationwide call for a reduction to violent crime in the Corporate Area. Its focus was to develop strategies aimed at crime reduction.
Its suggestion to National Security and Justice Minister, K. D. Knight, to have a model station, is said to have been received warmly as the Minister had himself been studying the viability of such a programme.
A model station could serve as the cornerstone of an effort to rebuild the police-community relationship, the group observed.
"When the idea was proposed to the Minister his response was overwhelming. It was discovered that it was a concept that he had already proposed," Becky Stockhausen, president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) said in an interview.
AMCHAM, with support from the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, was instrumental in bringing members of PERF to Jamaica to take a fresh look at the issue of crime in the Corporate Area.
Ms. Stockhausen also said a model station approach will be receiving technical assistance from members of PERF. However, priority will be given to short-term measures which can be implemented without funding.
Mr. Knight, who was absent from the official presentation ceremony, was represented by State Minister Ben Clare and Permanent Secretary Elaine Baker.
Mr. Clare said that the Ministry was very committed to the programme of reducing crime and violence and would be seeking the additional resources from the Finance Ministry to implement recommendations.
Police Commissioner Francis Forbes also backed the recommendation to create a model station. Responding to questions, he said, he did not agree with all of the recommendations contained in the report as some required amendments. However, he was anxious to implement those that did not require funding.
PERF recommendations
More work for station heads
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and most of the criminal justice system's approach to crime appears to be reactive. Constables respond to 119 calls or are deployed to so-called hot spots and reports are taken. Constables, and citizens alike, feel a sense of hopelessness as the police response is always reactionary and based on separate events rather than how incidents form patterns that need to be interrupted.
What is needed is a dramatic shift in how crime is viewed. Analysis should focus on geographic areas, and the commander of each local area should be held responsible for the development and implementation of effective crime reduction methods, rather than simply making arrests after the fact.
Station commanders need to be held responsible for mapping crime on a daily basis, detecting patterns, analysing relationships between offenders and victims, and linking crimes together rather than viewing them as separate events.
Repeat calls, repeat offenders, and repeat locations need to be analysed. Rather than just deploying units to hot spot locations, commanders need to engage in problem-solving to develop proactive strategies against crime.
The station commander needs to be viewed as the most significant manager in the organisation who will be held responsible for understanding the nature of crime in his or her location and developing strategies that will reduce crime... Resources need to be reallocated to give station commanders the maximum number of constables in order to effectively reduce crime.
Use information better
The JCF presently has a very limited and somewhat ineffective crime analysis capability which severely limits the ability of field commanders to effectively understand both the nature of crime and the relationship between criminal events.
Information that is given out is rarely used for a variety of reasons. The centrepiece of many departments that have turned around their crime problem is the use of accurate and timely information. This is an area in which the immediate investment of time and resources can be expected to produce short-term results. This is at the core of turning around the crime problem in Jamaica.
Station commander must be given accurate information on where, when, and how crime is occurring as well as who is committing crimes. The objective, therefore is to use this information in order to understand trends and develop pro-active strategies.
Move from homicide investigation
A significant number of homicides in Jamaica are reportedly the result of retaliation or domestic violence. Understand-ing the nature of these crimes and the patterns involved will be significant in reducing repeat crimes. In other words, until the police begin looking at the relationship between repeat offenders and victims (and potential victims), they will continue to be a reactive force. The police need to view their responsibility as not only responding to and investigating crime, but also and more importantly, preventing the next crime. This involves the examination of everything we know about locations, persons, and minor crimes that suggest retaliation may take place, and immediate strategy must be developed to focus on likely targets of additional violence.
Reduce fear of the community, police
It was evident that both citizens and police alike share a common sense of fear. For many citizens, the police are to be feared, not embraced, and for many constables there is a concomitant fear of interacting with citizens even in routine matters.
Because of the high levels of violence coupled with the prevalence of guns, constables often feel unsafe and vulnerable. For this reason, the police have adopted para-military techniques such as carrying assault weapons, wearing bullet proof vests outside their uniforms, and travelling in groups of four. This appearance of the police and the perception that police use considerably more force than necessary may have resulted in citizens' fear of interactions with constables.
The resultant mutual mistrust has the net effect of isolating the police from the very citizens whose support is vital in order for the police to do their job effectively. While it would be unrealistic to believe that the mistrust can be eliminated overnight, there needs to be a conscious effort to develop strategies that rebuild the police-citizen relationship. De-escalating the level of fear on both sides should be expected to result in fewer of the police-citizen confrontations that all too often result in a fatality.
Reposition the entire criminal justice system
The overall system of justice the police depend upon for support is broken. Cases take up to three years to adjudicate and there exists little co-ordination between the various components of the system.
Police prosecutors, judges and probation officers work independently of each other. There is virtually no plea-bargaining, which results in backlogs that cause long trial delays. Without citizens' support and trust there is a dramatic decrease in the ability of the police and prosecutors to secure convictions. The witness programme is severely understaffed and under-funded. This has an enormous impact on citizens' willingness to come forward. Like the police, these other components of the system need to undergo significant change to provide the kind of support necessary to ensure both justice and a reduction of violent crime.
Rebuild faith
All the work described above must be supported by a co-ordinated effort to engage other stakeholders in this process.
The faith community, educators, and the private sector must work alongside the police department to bring together the resources needed to support a prevention strategy, as well as provide alternatives to a life of crime for those Jamaicans at risk. There is a need for a leadership council that is willing to serve as the catalyst for change. For example, after-school programmes, parental assistance, summer jobs, longer school hours, and meaningful role models are important, if not more important, as a co-ordinated law enforcement strategy. Taking steps to address idle youth will be equally as important as an effective crime reduction strategy by the police.
