By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterFormer Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Professor Rex Nettleford, has expressed deep regret at the fact that Jamaica has had to turn to foreign police agencies for recruits in its efforts to curb the country's high crime rate.
In a concession to the enormity of the challenge facing the country, however, Professor Nettleford has accepted that this development is born of necessity, even though he thinks it could have been avoided if appropriate steps had been taken in the past.
He said he was sorry that, "we have had to go to Scotland Yard to bring in top officers," the scholar told the Gleaner/ Power 106 news. "We didn't educate our police force, and I mean 'educate' our police force...not train them".
For some time now the government has been collaborating with overseas police agencies, including the US DEA, the Canadian Mounted Police Force, and Britain's Scotland, mostly acting in advisory capacities.
That approach is in keeping with the trends in globalisation, Professor Nettleford said: "Thus agencies can now collaborate across international borders for their mutual benefit, in matters including the fight against transnational crime."
The government recently announced that it would be recruiting a limited number of police personnel from Britain's Scotland Yard directly into the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
FAILURE AT TERTIARY LEVEL
Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas, upon his return from a visit to England last week, confirmed that one of the Scotland Yard recruits would be at the level of deputy commissioner.
That level of recruitment, Professor Nettleford contends, is due in large measure, to a failure to establish an adequate local tertiary level institution to properly educate top officers and prepare them for the challenges of leadership.
"It's my great disappointment that we didn't get the kind of support that we needed to do this", he said.
Asked for a comment on the criticism, National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, acknowledged that the country had been slow to respond to the particular deficiencies highlighted by Professor Nettleford, but said that the matter was now being fully addressed.
"We are currently in discussions with the UWI, the John Jay College (New York) and other institutions, including the British, about how we could, on a regional basis, provide the required tertiary level education", he said.
Courses in criminology are being introduced as part of the offerings at the traditional tertiary institutions in Jamaica and at the police training school at Twickenham Park, Dr. Phillips said.
Additionally, specialist training is being introduced for the most senior ranks of the police force.
"This is what we have been discussing with the British as an alternative to sending them overseas for this specialist training," the minister said.
Dr. Phillips said it was necessary to establish an exchange programme involving high-level police personnel, including some from within the region, to bring fresh perspectives to the constabulary.
