Heather Robinson
I AM not aware of any police force in the world that has not had its share of allegations of corruption. Nor do I have knowledge of any police force that has not successfully proven corruption among its members. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is at a crossroads as it enters its 17th month under the command of Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas, who last year this time at the annual conference of the Jamaica Police Federation promised to expose and remove corrupt police officers from the force.
The million-dollar question that needs an answer is simply this: how much progress has been made in exposing and removing corrupt police officers from the force? A few members of the rank and file have been found guilty of accepting bribes from members of the public. Happily, these men will never be able to return to try to protect us ... from themselves. As the Police Federation meets today to chart the way forward, perhaps now would be an opportune time for it to declare publicly and denounce all forms of corrupt behaviour, and pledge to assist the commissioner in removing such police officers from the force. Or is this too much to expect?
Not many persons want the jobs of commissioner and national security minister. Try and visualise with me the dilemma that Mr. Thomas faces. He has the ultimate power to transfer police officers. The transfers that usually make the news are those at the level of divisional commanding officers. Some are transferred to expose them to learn new skills; some, because of the excellent work they did, and some because there were questions about their leadership skills and integrity. Good police officers with high levels of integrity have little to fear - except the mischief of deceitful colleagues - and usually progress easily. Those officers who lack integrity are put to pasture for a time, and with the passage of time are revamped and unleashed on the public again.
NO RECYCLING
What can the commissioner do? Should he allow them to remain in 'Never Never' forever? Or should he be seeking to obtain the necessary evidence that will ensure that these officers become members of the civilian or incarcerated population. Recycling is suitable for products that can contribute to sustainable development. Recycling is not for products that need proper and permanent disposal.
Dr. Peter Phillips, the Minister of National Security, on Tuesday in opening the Sectoral Debate promised "a comprehensive programme of 're-branding' to attract a higher level of recruits" as well as the upgrading of the curriculum "for all levels in the force to achieve the desired levels of professionalism". This is an excellent challenge for the force, but can you begin to imagine how much more credibility the force would have if more and more corrupt police officers were removed?
REMOVE THE 'MISTAKES'
Too many of the 'mistakes' made by police officers have been attributed to incompetence or a lack of training. Let me repeat, there is a very, very thin line between incompetence and corruption. Some of these 'mistakes' should not even be properly attributed to a six-year-old, much more men and women with 10, 20 and 30 years of experience.
A new way has to be found to permanently remove from the force the officers who are suffering from terminal incom-petence. The Commissioner should be given the authority to terminate any officer who has constant high levels of 'incom-petence'. Chief executive officers in all organisations have this responsibility. Why not the JCF?
Only then, when 'incompetence' is contained, can Jamaicans sleep at night knowing that we have a force without corruption. The resulting decrease in criminal activity will be a wonderful plus for all Jamaicans.
Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.
